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THE BUB, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 




Emily watching the s-ky at sunset. 



P. J25. 



THE 



BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT; 

OR, 

iarlg Jfcta Immanent aito Iropssito, 

ILLUSTRATED BY SOME INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OP 

EMILY J. GOODHUE. 



By Rev. JOHN PIKE, 
Pastor of the Congregational Church, Rowley, Mass. 



WRITTEN FOR THE MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY, AND 
APPROVED BY THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION. 




BOSTON: 
MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY, 

Depository, No. 13 Cornhill. 



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^■^ I IKS' 

. 6stTs~ 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, 
53rj trjt iHassarijusrtts ^abuatlj School Society, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 

TVell-Sppjng Pkess— 2so. 4 SpriDg Lane. 



Ko t\)t ^Reaber. 



There is much done at the present time to 
instruct children. But perhaps the idea is not so 
vivid as it should be, that they may be converted 
very early, and " walk with God" for years before 
they die. It is to spread, and confirm this idea, 
that these pages are written. 

There are not many instances, where children 
have lived to exhibit the M early piety," in which 
parents and friends have confided. It has occurred 
to us, that where we find this i; early piety " show- 
ing itself strong and warm for God during a period 
of years, it should be recorded to the praise of 
his grace, and the encouragement of his people. 
Certainly nothing can be more animating than to 
see this early faith "which worketh by love," and 
purifies the heart, and branches forth in all those 
Christian graces, which ornament so much the saint 



VI TO THE READER. 

in the later periods of his pilgrimage. "We have 
chosen one of the happiest examples we have ever 
known, to illustrate our ideas of the nature of early 
piety, and its manifestations in a world where child- 
hood is often left without one strong hope that it 
may be sanctified, and youth suffered to pursue the 
follies, and fashions of life, without a persevering and 
believing effort, that it may be brought over to the 
straight and narrow way, which leadeth unto heaven. 
If this book shall animate any to labor for the early 
conversion of the young, and encourage any child 
to feel that he may very early love the Saviour, and 
live so as greatlv to honor him through childhood and 
youth, the design of its publication will be answered. 
May the Spirit of God go with it ; then shall it 
awaken in many hearts a loving response to him 
who has said, " Suffer the little children to come 
unto me, and forbid them not." 





Contents. 




CHAPTER. 




PAGE. 


I. 


Early Piety Possible, 


9 


n. 


Early Piety not from Birth, 


16 


m. 


Early Piety not Ritual, 


23 


IV. 


Early Piety not from Education, 


30 


v. 


Early Piety and Parental Training 






Connected, .... 


38 


VI. 


Early Piety Explained, . 


51 


vn. 


The Great Question Answered, . 


64: 


vni. 


Desire for the Salvation of Others, . 


74 


IX. 


The Child's Obedience, 


86 


X. 


Sensitiveness to Sin and Desire to be 






Holy, 


93 


XI. 


Self-Examination, .... 


102 


XII. 


Humility, 


109 


XIII. 


Communion Season, .... 


118 


XIV. 


Sympathy with the Church, 


131 


XY. 


Natural things suggesting Spiritual, 


138 



C N T E N T S . 



XVI. Responsibility, .... 148 

XVII. Sincerity, 15*3 

XV11L Conscious Weakness, . . . 164 

XIX. Confidence in God, . . . 170 

XX. Joy, 178 

XXI. Regular Devotion, . . . 155 

XXII. The Sabbath— The Bible, . . 195 

XXQI. Gratitude, 206 

XXIV. Benevolence, 219 

XXV. Growth in Grace. ... 226 

XXVI. Triumph in Death. . . . 238 

XXVII. Funeral, 218 



Xfje $t(3, Siossoh) ^3 r^if. 



CHAPTER I 

Earlg ^trtg passible. 



M When piety in early minds, 

Like tender buds begins to shoot ; 
He guards the plants from threatening winds, 
And ripens blossoms into fruit." — Stennet. 



Once at least, in the life of Christ, we 
find the children in the temple. They 
do not seem to be there for play. It 
would not be strange, when their fathers 
made the temple a market-place, if the 
children should choose it as the spot for 
their sports. But they appear to be wor- 
shiping. They have caught the key-note 
of the gospel, and are sending up 



10 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

" hosannas to the Son of David." The 
sound is grateful to Christ. He deepens 
and prolongs it by the prophetic saying, 
" Out of the mouths of babes and suck- 
lings thou hast perfected praise." He 
does not question that children may as 
rightly praise him, as those in manhood 
strength. Strange would it have been, 
had he questioned it, after saying, " Suffer 
little children, and forbid them not, to 
come unto me : for of such is the king- 
dom of heaven." 

There were some who were displeased 
at this praise of Christ. The scribes and 
the chief priests were quite troubled and 
vexed at it. Probably they thought these 
children so small and ignorant, that they 
could not give a religious teacher suit- 
able praise. They had no idea of any 
religion, but such as was manifested in 
their own way. Perhaps some of the 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 11 

disciples had the same idea, though it is 
not told us. At all events, I am sure 
that the disciples of the present day have 
entered into this Pharisaic sentiment. I 
have seen it and felt it, to my heart's core. 
They never rise to the wonderfully wide 
basis which the apostle laid, when saying, 
"There are diversities of operations, but it 
is the same God which worketh all in all." 
It is no surprise to them, when the grace 
of God touches those who have added to 
their natural corruption, the guilt and 
the habit of years of transgression. But 
it amazes them to hear of " little chil- 
dren " being really and truly " heirs of 
God, and joint-heirs with Christ." It 
has been a custom with me, to have an 
inquiry meeting at the going down of the 
sun on Sabbath evening. Frequently, 
many that come, are children. It has 
sometimes been said outside, " there is 



12 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

not much real religious interest, because 
those who go are mostly children." And 
what is the reason the interest is not more 
real and hearty ? The children have come 
in from among those who speak doubt- 
fully of their being proper subjects for 
the service of God ! Their feelings are 
chilled, instead of being fanned into a 
flame! There is no waiting father or 
mother to say to them, as they return, 
" Is the work done, is my child a follower 
of Christ?" The most whom they meet, 
think their feelings little, and transient. 
It would be better if they had the eye 
and the heart of Christ, to see and wel- 
come the faintest notes of praise. Said 
an aunt to a little girl, " Why do you 
wish to go down to your pastor's ? " "I 
am a sinner," she said, " and wish to 
know the way to heaven." Could a lady 
of twenty-five answer more appropriately ? 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 13 

Some think a millennial day to be near. 
It will not dawn, till there are more vivid 
ideas of the possibility and probability of 
a child's piety. These Sabbath school 
services, and saying of prayers, and ques- 
tions and answers that concern eternity, 
are not to be looked at as ends. They 
are means that, through the Holy Spirit, 
may reach a great end. This end is not 
the keeping the seed covered in the mind, 
so that the devil shall not steal it away. 
The warming the seed into speedy life, 
is what is to be hopefully looked for. 
This believing look would give life to all 
the labors for children. And there are 
grounds for our thus believing. The con- 
version of children, is not a theory merely. 
It has passed into the class of facts, which 
settle questions before in dispute. Many 
a pastor can bear testimony, that if 
he has ever seen true religion among 



14 THE BUD. BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

his people, it has been in the children. 
Many a one might say. he could wish 
his church made up of children, when 
he has watched the simple, but sincere 
manner in which some have talked of 
Christ and his kingdom. 

I have spoken of early piety, as a 
fact. Many of the subjects of it. are 
recorded in the libraries of our Sabbath 
schools and homes. Some have lost the 
force of these records, because the* children 
died so soon after their piety began to 
show itself. All their glorious views and 
sayings, go for naught, because they 
were taken away so soon : perhaps, t 
away for this cause, that their hosannas 
were too mucli for this unbelieving world. 
and most aptly fitted to chord with, and 
swell the song of heaven. Now it is true, 
that a great deal of this recorded piety 
has not shown itself real, in the struggle 



THE BUD. BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 15 

with the changes and chances of mortal 
life. It is true, that it doth not appear 
what we shall be in eternity, when our 
piety has been chiefly that of the sick 
chamber. But all piety is not of this 
interested character. There are many 
instances of early piety standing strong, 
amid the temptations of life. It has 
been as permanent, as it was early. TVe 
select a single one, from others which 
we know. Emily J. Goodhue, born in 
Marlboro', Mass., December 8, 1838: died 
in Manchester, Mass., October 3, 1857. 
In the winter of 1846, when about seven 
years old, she became pious. For more 
than ten years, her piety was displaying 
itself. In her case, we have " the bud, 
the blossom and fruit," all seen, known, 
and realized on earth, before they have 
reached a heavenly perfection. 



16 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

CHAPTER II. 

Earls ^icts net from Ktrtfr. 



11 Por they are not all Israel, which are of Israel." — Rom. 9 : 6. 



" Born not of blood, nor of the will of 
the flesh," says the first chapter of the 
gospel of John. It was a new idea to 
many. They thought piety ran in the 
line of ancient and honorable blood. 
If they could say they were "Abra- 
ham's seed," it was much the same as 
saying that they were " never in bon- 
dage to any man," or any thing. "When 
the apostle said he was " of the stock 
of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a 
Hebrew of the Hebrews," it was a much 
clearer proof of his piety to the people 
of his day, than the brilliant account 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 17 

of his conversion, in the ninth chapter 
of the Acts. Perhaps this idea did not 
leave the world, when the tribes left 
Judea. It may be a growth of the 
common, instead of the Jewish heart. 
Men do not expect indications of piety in 
the children of low, ignorant, ungodly 
parents. But when they come from ele- 
vated blood, blood long separated from 
that of those who " fear not God, or 
regard man," separate, perhaps, for the 
service and kindgom of God, in a most 
remarkable sense, it may sometimes 
be thought its heavenly tendencies will 
be left, at the same time with its 
life. The thought is vain. The prop- 
agation of purity, is not one of the 
laws of God in this sinful world. The 
highest authority has said, " Who can 
bring a clean thing out of an unclean? 
Not one." 



18 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

There is another form, in which this 
idea of " birth piety," sometimes shows 
itself. It is this ; that God anticipates 
the birth, that would naturally be in 
sin, and makes it one of holiness. That 
he has done this, may be true. The Bible 
speaks thus of Jeremiah : " Before thou 
earnest forth out of the womb, I sancti- 
fied thee." Gabriel said to the father of 
John the Baptist, " He shall be filled 
with the Holy Ghost, even from his 
mother's womb." Now what God has 
done, he may do again. But it is to be 
remembered that these were peculiar 
times, and the only cases that are known 
of the kind, from the thousands and mil- 
lions, that were born into the world, dur- 
ing the period of history that the Bible 
covers. So that I should quite as soon 
imagine, that people of the present day 
would be carried to heaven without dying, 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 19 

because Enoch and Elijah were, as to 
think that they would be sanctified from 
birth, because this was the case with 
Jeremiah, and John the Baptist. This 
is one of the things that God would not 
be likely to repeat much, when he 
means to keep us fixed so humbly and 
constantly upon the truth, which is 
woven into the very heart of the Bible, 
that man is corrupt from his birth. 
Parents that talk so much of their chil- 
dren " sanctified from birth," are travel- 
ing out of the record, and may find at 
last that they are flattering their own 
vanity, rather than speaking out the sen- 
timents of an intelligent and pious heart. 
Not far from my dwelling is the house 
of a venerable man, who has been for 
more than a half century the pillar of 
the Rowley church. His home has been 
a Bethany to the ministers of the Gospel. 



20 THE BUD. BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

Several years ago. one of thern brought a 
child of five years old. saving to the 
household that he - considered hi in sanc- 
tified from the womb.*' No sooner had the 
father gone out. than this wonderful 
took up the first thing that came to hand, 
and threw it at the head of one of the 
women who shared the cares, toils, affec- 
tions, and joys of the house. Less shrewd 
women than she. would have reasoned that 
this M birth sanctification " was not to be 
relied on. or proclaimed, before it had been 
subjected to long and impartial tests. Pa- 
rents had better be suspicious of the piety 
which seems to date from birth. Even if a 
piety which has been long and patiently 
tested, cannot be traced back to the period 
when there was no love to the Saviour. 
and no godly sorrow for sin. they would 
do well to disconnect it from the natural 
birth, of which it would be so strange a 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 21 

companion. The race is fallen ; the worm 
is at the root of the gourd. Even Seth, 
afterwards supposed to be pure, was begot- 
ten in Adam's u own likeness, after his 
image," and not after the " image of 
God," which his father had at his crea- 
tion, and which the apostle informs us, 
consists in " knowledge, righteousness, and 
true holiness." The root has lost its 
spiritual strength, its heavenly vitality, 
and the most distant branches helplessly 
fall, and cease to tend upward. So that to 
the end of time it will prove true, that 
" what is born of the flesh, is flesh." 
The truth of the touching and humbling 
psalm will apply to the last child of the 
race : 

" Lord, I am vile, conceived in sin, 
And born unholy and unclean ; 
Sprung from the man, whose guilty fall 
Corrupts the race, and taints us all." 



22 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

We claim for Einily, no exemption 
from the common law of a fallen race. 
She was the daughter of very respectable 
and highly devoted Christian parents : 
Rev. John N. Goodhue, a native of 
Salem, and pastor of the Congregational 
church, Marlboro', and Emily Leach of 
Manchester. She was amiable very early. 
But she was born a sinner in the sight of 
God. There was no particular religious 
difference between her and other chil- 
dren, till she was about seven years old. 
Then the difference commenced, and 
continued and widened till the day of her 
death. 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 23 

CHAPTER III. 

Sarin IJputjr not &tiual. 



4 No bleeding bird, nor bleeding beast, 
Nor hyssop branch, nor sprinkling priest, 
Nor running brook, nor flood, nor sea, 
Can wash the dismal stain away." — Watts. 



" And when the Pharisee saw it, he mar- 
veled that he had not first washed 
before dinner." There was a reason for 
neglecting the washing. This Pharisee 
already had his eye too much upon the 
outside of the cup and platter. The 
Saviour wished to turn him to the inward 
wickedness, too deep, too gross for an 
outward washing. 

The fondness for the ritual, is one of 
the most common of human traits. The 
Saviour found it widely spread when he 



24 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



came. It had grown into such a form, 
and height, as to become sin, and hinder 
greatly his work. Some think it God's 
kindness alone, that gave the magnificent 
ritual to the Jews. "We should question 
whether this gorgeous outward scene was 
merely a condescension to that Jewish 
weakness, which was not strong enough 
to climb to the spiritualities of the gos- 
pel. God wished a shadow for the great 
substantial things which were coming. 
It seemed to him the wisest, and best, to 
have a long dim twilight before the clear 
day of the gospel. But in carrying out 
this view, ho put the Jews to very great 
hazard. The trial was too severe for 
them. They became bound to their 
forms, and never could be satisfied out 
of them, unless in the more palpable 
and sensual rites of the heathen. The 
deep vail is on their hearts, as they read 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 25 

Moses. They cannot see Christ. They 
will, till God brings them in with the 
fullness of the Gentiles, spend their time 
upon such material questions, as " whether 
upon this mountain, or at Jerusalem, they 
shall worship the Father." 

Jesus left us but two simple rites, Bap- 
tism, and the Lord's Supper. They have 
proved too much for our spiritual 
strength, even when accompanied with 
all his vivid explanations. Hardly had 
they been given, before they began to be 
degraded by material hands. Rome came 
in, and gave them an independent effi- 
cacy. The miserable theory was relied 
upon, that Christ had put the cure of 
original and actual sin into the water, 
and bread and wine which the priest had 
blessed. The theory was too congenial 
to human nature not to spread to the 
ends of the earth. It did not die at the 



26 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

reformation. It is a vast deal easier in 
every age to be washed with water, than 
to cleanse the heart — to eat bread, than 
to resist the devil, who wishes ns to think 
that we can " live by bread alone." Hence 
the rush for the ritual is as fresh, often- 
times, in Oxford, Berlin, and in the United 
States, as at Rome. 

It is a rare thing to be truly spirit- 
ual, when spiritualizing a natural object. 
The Mormon woman, betrayed away from 
her pious home in Vermont, returned in 
one week to say to her neighbors, that 
" they began in the spirit, but ended in 
the flesh." She, no doubt, thought they 
began in the spirit. And perhaps, many 
a ritualist has thought, as he began to 
sink into the outward, and formal, that 
he was giving to the natural emblems a 
higher spiritual power. But he will doubt- 
less find to his sorrow, that his spiritual- 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 27 

izing of nature, has ended in his material- 
izing spirit. 

Some have said that the " Evangel- 
icals," as they are called, have become 
quite careless of rites. The saying is 
not true. Many care more about rites, 
than they do about the spiritual temper 
with which they are to be prepared for, 
and followed. The descendants of the 
Puritans would not stay away from the 
table of the Lord, but are utterly careless 
of those services before, which are meant 
to fit them to apprehend it rightly, and 
those self-denying labors after, which 
take up and carry out to a dying world 
the truths which it figuratively expresses. 
When we see some chapels on the day of 
Preparatory lecture, we think a cannon 
ball might be shot through the side on 
which the men sit, with but very little 
danger to human life. Perhaps the same 



would be the case on the other side, if it 
was not afternoon, when the burden of 
house-work is over. And when we see 
the immediate and earnest rush into the 
world from a most solemn rite, we begin 
to think that the reproach of our spiritual 
feeling undermining God's ordinances 
belongs but little less to us, than to 
the Papists. The fact is, we are not bent 
upon seeing, and cultivating the life of 
God in the soul. We go to God's ordi- 
nances regularly, when we have no spirit 
to take the kingdom of heaven by violence, 
for ourselves or others. 

Emily knew but little of rites, till 
long after she had caught the spirit 
which they faintly shadow. The instruc- 
tions of her childhood had not been upon 
sects, or forms, and she was left long- 
to the precious memory, " that the dis- 
ciples were called Christians, first at 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 29 

Antioch," and that it is the most valuable 
name they can bear while they live upon 
earth. Her whole attention was % con- 
fined to herself, a sinful child, and 
Christ, the child's Saviour. The im- 
portance above every thing else of hav- 
ing the heart right in the sight of 
God, and letting its light so shine, that 
others might see the way to heaven, 
became stronger and stronger, till she 
passed to the place where they see God 
without intervening mediums, " see him 
as he is." 



30 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

CHAPTER IY. 

SZarljr ^tetjj not from IZtmcatton. 



M 'Till God diffuse his graces down, 
Like showers of heavenly rain ; 
In vain Apollos sows the ground, 
And Paul may plant in Tain. — Watts. 



It is the idea of some, that the order 
and variety of the Universe are not due 
to God, save in a very remote way. The 
actual creation is very small, perhaps 
some " fire mist," out of which through 
internal and external forces have been 
spreading, cutting off, and revolving- 
suns and stars. Xow it is not for us to 
show at this time, that the laws of 
nature cannot well be supposed any 
thing but God's operations, that a uni- 
verse maintained is indebted to the same 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 31 

act of will, as a universe produced, and 
that a world without the constant infu- 
sion of divine strength, would be as 
likely to fall in pieces, as the image in 
a mirror when the flow of the rays of 
light has ceased. But it is plain that this 
theory does not descend to the absur- 
dity of supposing that external forces will 
work out the universe from an object 
that does not favorably answer to them, 
that has no material in it such as the 
rising world is made up of, that is in 
settled and active opposition to any change 
from its first state. 

Real piety is the love of God in the 
heart, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
as a Saviour, the love of our neighbor 
as ourselves, and the views, feelings, and 
acts which grow from these. 

If the beginning of these were in us, 
we might more wisely talk of education 



32 



being the efficient cause of their full 
grown strength. But there are no such 
beginnings. Indeed, there is a positive 
contrariety in the soil to the germs of 
Christian faith and love. The Bible says 
of us, that we are " dead in trespasses 
and sins," that we are the " servants of 
sin," that we " cannot know the things 
of the spirit of God," that we are at 
" enmity against God." This is not said 
of those gray-grown in sin, but of human 
beings generally ; of children, as well 
as others. Education then loses its main 
reliance. It has a rational being, but 
he is a willing slave of sin. And over 
all the light you bring him, it must 
be sadly said, " the light shineth in dark- 
ness and the darkness comprehended it 
not." It seems to be supposed by many 
that religion is one of the original princi- 
ples of our nature, and that it is only 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 33 

necessary to direct and strengthen it by 
discipline. There never was a greater 
mistake. You may educate or induce a 
holy being into sin, because he has a 
love for that natural good which you 
may present in so glorious a form as to 
take his whole attention, carry him away 
from higher considerations, and lead him 
to seek it to the neglect of his duty. So 
the tree of knowledge of good and evil 
as explained and beautified by the serpent, 
betrayed our first parents from duty and 
God. But in attempting to educate from 
sin into holiness, you meet no relish for 
the spiritual objects, which you present 
for apprehension and love. You must 
say as you bring them, " when they see 
them there is no beauty that they should 
desire them." You are constrained to 
sigh after some birth beside the natural, 
to make your educative energy effective. 



u 



THE BUD. BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



You may "marvel'' at it. and think it 
strange that a child needs to be "born 
again." But years of unsuccessful effort 
to teach him to run gladly in the way of 
God's commandments, may suggest to you 
the need of a higher and heavenly agency, 
such as you vrould want to call in. if 
pouring out your harmonies upon the 
deaf, and spreading your colors before the 
blind. 

Something more is needed than divine 
agency as seen in the ordinary operations 
of nature. Some have supposed that a 
child is framed to a godly life through 
the constitutional connection it sustains 
to its parent, without any supernatural 
agency save that which acts through 
natural laws. Xow that God is every- 
where in nature ; filling it with his own 
power and presence, is true : but that he 
is to be desired for the child, in no 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 35 

other way than to enliven and bear 
along the sacred influences by which he 
is surrounded, is not we think to be 
allowed. The Bible makes a wide dis- 
tinction between God's providential agency 
and the operations of his grace. But to 
suppose that the parent infuses little by 
little his own spiritual life into the child 
by patient and constant instruction, so 
that ere long he is a regenerated being, 
would be to allow God no different agency 
in making an heir of heaven, than he 
has in making the lungs heave, the 
flower bloom, or the tree grow. Conver- 
sion in this case is a natural effect 
of education, a natural result of the 
connection which God permits and sus- 
tains between the parent and the child. 
We have a higher idea of God's con- 
verting grace than this. It seems to us 
to be a power, other and higher than 



36 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

that which operates in nature. We recog- 
nize no parent, or Sabbath school teacher, 
or minister of the gospel as wielding the 
converting and saving grace of God. It 
goes before them, and prepares the way 
for all their efforts. It goes beyond them, 
and touches the heart, and " turns it 
withersoever he will." And the mind 
and heart come, " into the light and liberty, 
of the children of God," not as the body 
grows from the nourishment the parent 
gives, but as the sick come to health, the 
blind to sight, the dead to life, beneath the 
power and voice of Christ. 

We have a higher hope for Emily, 
than that she had only the state of mind 
and heart, which religious influences with- 
out God's presence and power, or with 
such presence and power as is seen in the 
ordinary changes of nature, could give. 
These left her a sinner for seven years, 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 37 

and if operating alone, would have left 
her such till she passed into eternity. 
But God made her " willing in the day 
of his power." God fulfilled his own 
saying, " I will put a new spirit within 
you, and I will take the stony heart out 
of your flesh, and give you a heart of 
flesh." It was " the working of that 
mighty power, which wrought in Christ 
when he raised him from the dead." 
Being a " new creature in Christ," the 
religious influences by which she was 
surrounded fell like seed upon the 
good ground, so that she became uncom- 
monly useful on earth, and had, we doubt 
not, an " abundant entrance " into heaven. 



38 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



CHAPTER V. 

fSarlg $itt£ an& parental draining ^onrtectetr* 



M And if I e'er in heaven appear, 

A mother's holy prayer, 
A mother's hand, and gentle tear, 
That pointed to a Saviour dear, 

Have led the wanderer there." — Mrs. Sigourney. 



Early piety and parental training are not 
connected, as effect and efficient cause. 
But parental training, is an instrumental 
cause. It is one of the most effective of 
this kind of causes. Sad to say, the 
preaching of the word does not often be- 
come "the sword of the Spirit" to chil- 
dren. It is an arrow from the quiver, that 
goes over their head, and shoots beyond 
them. The apostle talks of " being cor- 
rupted from the simplicity that is in 
Christ." Perhaps the pulpit style has felt 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 39 

this corruption. The truths of the gospel 
may be stated simply, and plainly. The 
pulpit need not descend to " baby talk;" 
but it may speak with the simple, clear, 
strong language of the Pilgrim's Progress, 
which Bunyan learned in the school of 
the Great Teacher, and which makes every 
child ready to open the door to him, and 
welcome him in as the guide to heaven. 
Yet it has not come to this simple, forcible 
style. Many a preacher would find him- 
self more out of his line, when speaking 
so that the children can follow him 
through, than when he casts aside his 
notes, and talks out the Christian life, as 
it lies in his own experience. For this 
reason, religious parental training will be 
more instrumental, than the preaching of 
the word, in the matter of salvation. But 
there is another reason. The hearers are 
constantly before the parents. Preachers 



40 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

lose their hearers when the sun goes down, 
perhaps not to see them till the Sabbath 
dawns again. 

Where they are, what they are doing, 
we may not know. Parents do, or ought 
to know where their children are, and what 
they do. They have them in their pres- 
ence for years together. They are the 
first to see them in the morning, the last 
to leave them at night. Their books, their 
| pleasures, their company are all at the 
parents' ordering. No motion, no smile, 
no word from the parent, in whom the 
child so heartily confides, but he is there 
to notice it. What a wonderful advan- 
tage! There has been great fault found 
with protracted meetings. But there is 
one element of power in them, which 
we cannot well afford to lose. It is this ; 
that the hearers may be kept for long 
spaces of time directly under the preach- 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 41 

er's voice, and influence. The importance 
of this cannot be well overrated. What 
the preacher may not have, God has given 
to the parent. For months, for years, there 
is no one to step between him and the 
child, and tear away the marks which 
parental looks, life and words, are making. 
When will the parent know, that he is the 
" chosen vessel to bear God's name," to 
those who are " bone of his bone, flesh 
of his flesh." 

" Train up a child in the way he should 
go, and when he is old he will not depart 
from it." This is the promise of God. 
Parental training and early piety are con- 
nected by the promise of God, that he will 
bless the one, to the securing of the other. 
For I suppose " when he is old" does not 
mean simply when he is gray-grown, but 
when he is coming along through the 
periods that follow his childish life. This 



42 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

is a general promise. It shows the chan- 
nel, in which God means that his grace 
shall flow. And if a well-disciplined child 
ever wanders from the right path, it no 
more disturbs our faith in the general 
promise, than the coming of a famine 
makes us doubtful in regard to the suc- 
cession of 4i seed time and harvest/' 
What if the child of a minister is some- 
times regarded a " scape-grace " above 
others ! Perhaps it seems so, because he is 
more narrowly watched, and more widely 
known, than his associates. Or, what is 
more likely than that, the cares which 
others impose, leave that minister but 
little time for the care of his own house. 
The child is not trained up for God, and 
the conditional promise is forfeited. 

There need be no fear ; only begin early. 
If we mistake not, Xapoleon said to the 
lady, who had by the hand a child of four 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 43 

years, and who asked him how soon the 
training must begin, " Madam, you have 
already lost three years." He might have 
said three years, eight months, or more. 
There is a period for effort, before the 
child knows language. There are im- 
pressions from looks, tones, movements. 
Your lowering countenance is inter- 
preted by the little child, as quickly as 
you interpret the lowering cloud. He is 
moved by what you are, when you think 
your inner spirit is open only to God. 
He knows very soon, whether your will, 
or his, is to be the law of the house. 
Upon the decision of this question may 
hang the question of his piety. It is 
God's way to have those learn to " bear 
the yoke in their youth," who, in their 
youth, are called to that obedience in his 
kingdom, which he prefers above sacrifice. 
An unsubdued child at home, is never 



44 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

a Samuel listening to God and crying, 
" Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth." 
If, even in late life, he becomes grafted 
upon the stock of Christ, he twists away 
into unnatural forms that no one can 
manage, and forces the beholder to won- 
der how such a crooked thing could have 
a place upon Zion. The first wrong 
deed or word, is to be reproved at once. 
The old maxim, " resist the beginning/' 
has a great bearing upon the Christian 
life. The mother of Emily found a button 
in her pocket, after she came home from 
school. It was a large one, — attractive 
to the child. She asked her " where she 
got it," and the child said, " from a little 
girl's seat." The mother then asked, 
u whether the little girl saw her take 
it," to which the child replied, " no." 
The eighth commandment was then ex- 
plained, and the child made to see that 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 45 

she had broken it. It surprised the little 
girl of five years old. She went back 
with the button, told what she had 
done, said she was sorry, and ever after- 
wards used thankfully to say, " Mother, 
had you done differently, I might have 
been a thief." I remember a younger 
child than she, who took a cent from his 
father's desk, and went to the shop for 
the trifle it would buy. The father 
inquired for that which bought the trifle, 
went to the shop, took the cent, hung 
it up in the parlor, where the child 
could see it every time he came into 
the room. That boy grew up to be so 
honest, that he injured himself often, 
lest he should even seem to be injur- 
ing others. I have wished sometimes 
that people would take a pear or an 
apple, similar to the one their child stole, 
and hang it up, till it should drop piece- 



46 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

meal upon his head. Be careful ; never 
let the parent be seen to take even a 
pin, that is not his own. These great 
defalcations — this " honorable stealing," 
as it is called in public corporations, come 
from those who never carried back the 
button, or saw the hanging cent, or felt 
the falling pear, when they were young. 
There are many such little cares as these, 
which have their bearing upon early piety. 
Baxter says that " a godly education 
is God's first and ordinary appointed 
means for the begetting of actual faith, 
and other graces in the children of believ- 
ers." Doddridge must have thought so, 
when he remembered the Dutch tiles 
upon the chimney, to which his mother 
used to take him, and where she pointed 
out in picture the wonderful things that 
God had done, and the wonderful men 
he had trained for his service. 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 47 

Emily doubtless thinks so, while in 
heaven she remembers that from early 
childhood her mother spent one hour 
every night with her, reading the Bible, 
praying and then hearing her pray, and 
listening to the hymn, which she was each 
day expected to learn. Better an hour 
thus spent, than to take the child every 
day to "Vanity Fair." Better to have 
him learn to talk the language of Canaan 
first, — better that he be taught to " buy 
the truth," than to lay by his money for 
what will make him more selfish while it 
remains and after it is spent, than before. 
There is a treasure that can be laid up 
in heaven ; it is cruelty not to turn the 
child's eye toward it. He will never be 
likely to get above these calves, horses, 
lands, clothes, and money boxes, that 
parents are all the time talking of. Early 
piety depends vastly upon the atmosphere 



48 

about the home. The impressions of the 
sanctuary are scattered, if every thing 
else is placed above Christ. Nothing 
can take the place of parental instruction 
and prayer in the matter of salvation. If 
you want to make for your children a bed 
in hell, leave them to " follow the sight 
of their own eyes." Keep far from them 
the idea of being a sinner, and of Christ 
being the only Saviour. Let them hear 
no family prayer, and see only the world- 
ling's life. The work is done. Earth loses 
a generation for God's praise ; and heaven, 
voices that might have swollen the " new 
song." 

Emily had the blessing of early and 
constant parental faithfulness. Her father 
prayed for her till he passed away,— even 
in his hours of feverish delirium upon 
all other things, asking most rationally 
and fervently, that she might become a 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 49 

Christian. After he was gone, the mother 
came with the child to Kowley, where 
he used to say she could be brought up 
the easiest, and the best. Before she 
could read, she was taught, and ready to 
relate, many Bible stories. When about 
three years old, she used to say over some 
short passages of Scripture of great worth, 
such as " Thou God seest me," — " How 
can I do this great wickedness and sin 
against God." The hour after tea, sacred 
to prayer, praise, and Christian conver- 
sation, was the great preparatory season 
for her change to the life of holiness, 
and heaven. At one of these hours, when 
x he mother was remarking upon Christ's 
being " despised and rejected of men," 
as Isaiah declares in his fifty-third chap- 
ter, Emily said, with great earnestness, 
though only at the age of five years, 
" Mother, he shall never be rejected by 



50 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

me." Still he was rejected ; for two 
years more, she had no real sympathy 
with Christ and his cross. 

The instruction went on. Prayer con- 
tinued earnestly unto him, who has " never 
said to the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in 
vain." It was early in December, 1845, 
that the mother left to be absent for 
the winter, her child remaining as a 
comfort for the grandparents. But amid 
all the cares of leaving, she did not forget 
to say to Emily, that she wished her 
from that morning till her return, to pray, 
and read a portion of Scripture, morning 
and night. It was the last word, — but 
it was wonderful to that child, and happily 
closed years of parental faithfulness. The 
mother was gone, but God remained to 
work in the child " the humble and con- 
trite heart," where he will dwell, as surely 
as in his own heaven. 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 51 

CHAPTER VI. 

35aris ^tctg Explained. 



" Why should I say, 'tis yet too soon 

To seek for Heav'n, or think of death ? 
A flower may fade before 'tis noon, 

And I, this day may lose my breath.' ' — Watts. 



True piety is essentially the same, where- 
ever, in whomsoever found. It is not 
one thing for Europe, another for America, 
one thing for the gray-haired man just 
falling off into eternity, another for the 
little child coming upon the stage of 
life. The music of the civilized world 
has eight notes ; each note has its own 
identity ; together they make up the scale. 
Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Creation, can 
have no more. To a cultivated taste 
it will not do for choice specimens of 



52 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

music to have less. Real piety has its 
fundamental elements. They must all be 
there, — all ready to appear amid the 
varied scenes of life. The great Master 
will so arrange and combine them, that 
they will variously manifest themselves 
in the hearts and lives of his followers. 
But the pretence to piety is not to be 
allowed, if any of the Christian graces 
which belong to piety are wanting. The 
faith, which is as a grain of mustard 
seed, is as really faith, as that which is 
grown to a great tree, sufficient for the 
shelter and safety of others. The old 
man cannot be said to be pious, till there 
is in his heart, a real hatred for the sin 
in which he has indulged all his life- 
long, a real trust in the Lord Jesus 
Christ as a forgiving Saviour. The child 
should not be thought, or said to be 
pious, till it has intelligently viewed itself 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 53 

a sinner, and Christ as a Saviour, parted 
willingly with what God forbids, and cho- 
sen cordially what God requires. There is 
no early or late piety that has not the 
" holiness, without which no man shall 
see the Lord," and whatever piety has 
this holiness of heart and life, is the 
true, whether it comes sooner or later. 
The idea that piety is a various thing, 
has worked much mischief; for it has 
allowed men to suppose that in the cir- 
cumstances in which they are placed, 
they might continue a course which dis- 
honored God and injured men, and yet, 
claim a name and a place with the pious 
on earth and in heaven. Hence there is 
a piety made to order for the counting- 
room, the market-place, the shop, the 
circle of gay companions, the home fire- 
side, the closet, the school, the matron 
who would be thought absent when she 



54 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

is at home, the maiden who would deceive 
the mistress, the man who forsakes the 
assembly of those who gather for prayer, — 
a piety for the Sabbath and the week, 
the day of prosperity, and that of adver- 
sity, the hours of health, and the chamber 
of sickness and death. But this is a vain 
tampering with what God has already 
made, whose elements he has just as 
certainly fixed, as those of the atmos- 
phere. And over any man who has the 
Sabbath and the week day piety, the 
piety for storm and for sunshine, the 
piety for what he wants to do, and that 
only; the piety that welcomes his sins 
as long as he can enjoy them, and 
parts with them when no longer desira- 
ble, we may with safety say, " If any 
man adds, God shall add unto him the 
plagues written in this book, and if any 



THE BUD,* BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 55 

man takes away, God shall take away his 
part out of the book of life." 

For nearly a month, the men of a fishing 
village were hindered from going to sea. 
When one Sabbath morning the wind 
changed, they came out upon the shore 
saying, " I'm sorry it's Sunday, but if we 

were not so poor ." " But if" said 

a sturdy fisherman, starting up and speak- 
ing aloud, " Surely neighbors, are your 
but's and if's to break God's law ? Mine's 
a religion for all weathers, fair wind and 
foul. ' This is the law of God, that ye 
keep it holy.' That's the law, friends ; 
and our Lord came not to break, but to 
fulfill the law. True we are poor — what 
of that? Better poor, and have God's 
smile, than rich, and have his frown. 
Go, you that dare ; but I never knew 
any good come of a religion that changed 
with the wind." The fisherman was 



56 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

right ; real religion does not change with 
the wind ; nor does it change with 
any of the temptations of "the world, 
the flesh and the devil," which, varying 
and strong as the wind, sweep ns far 
away from the plain directions of God, 
and the narrow path that endeth in life. 
Early piety is distinguished in this, 
that it is " early." It is the first blossom 
of the year. It is the flower, when all 
around are but leaves and buds. It does 
not have to spend itself in unlearning the 
bad habits of years. It is not filled up 
with lamentations over an unprofitable 
life. It is the most likely to become 
eminent, to have a wider influence here, 
and a higher place in heaven than if later 
in its rise. Those who become pious 
early, may have fightings without, and 
fears within, but less than they who begin 
their heavenly journey at noon, or night- 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 57 

fall. They will be peculiarly blessed of 
God. The young disciple, was " the dis- 
ciple whom Jesus loved." One of the 
most honored and devout of the prophets, 
was he who, when a child, said, " Speak, 
Lord, for thy servant heareth." Baxter, 
Doddridge, Watts, Wesley, and Whitfield, 
were eminent servants of God, because 
they began to think and live for him in 
the earlier periods of life. The piety of 
Carey, Brainerd, Eliot, Schwartz, and 
Martyn, has been said to be an early 
piety. Harriet Newell, before she found 
her island-grave, had rapidly started and 
happily matured the fruits of piety, which 
would have worthily ornamented a long 
life. She began early. Some who have 
borne her name, and many who have her 
virtues, have found a ready place in the 
hearts of others, and a clearer title to 
heaven, by beginning as she did the ser- 



58 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

vice of God, while in their youth. Early 
piety may have a long life of usefulness. 
4; Those that are planted in the house of 
the Lord, shall flourish in the courts of 
our God ; they shall still bring forth fruit 
in old age." But whether the possessor of 
it departs earlier or later, he is not likely 
to be ; * scarcely saved.*' We may hope 
for him an ; - abundant entrance n into 
heaven. 

Emily's piety was early, — it was early, 
compared with what we generally see, not 
with what God requires, or what children 
should joyfully give. It ought to have 
been earlier. It was a grief to her, that 
it was not earlier. Seven years is a 
long while to be in God's world, without 
God's love in the heart. But it was in- 
telligent and true piety — the hardy germ 
for subsequent growth. She knew what 
it was to be grieved for sin, to confess 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 59 

it, to forsake it, to believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, to love God, and his ser- 
vice. As her mother came back in the 
spring, the earliest words of the child rush- 
ing to her arms were, "Mother, when you 
went away, I prayed and read my Bible, 
because you told me to; now I do it because 
I love to" Here was the dawn of piety; 
it was the change from " doing," to the 
" love to do." This is the great differ- 
erence between the works of the sinner, 
and the Christian ; the one does, be- 
cause he thinks he must, — the other, 
because he loves the will of God, and the 
work which he has given him to do. 
Child, do you love the hour that calls 
you to your Bible, and prayer ? Theolo- 
gians have speculated much upon the 
order of the virtues. The experience of 
renewed hearts will not decide their ques- 
tionings. They can say that * whereas 



60 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

they were once blind, now they see." The 
objects of religion were starting forth here 
and there, and the feelings were rising to 
meet them. But the object and feeling 
that were first, they cannot say, nor do 
they care to say, more than the blind 
man does to tell which part of his eye 
was first quickened. The new heart can- 
not be mapped out like the lines of 
countries. It is a net-work of graces, 
one thread of which may be prominent 
here, and another there, but all laid, 
when the Holy Spirit created it. It is 
the bow in heaven that spreads its colors 
all combined, at the word of Him who 
speaks it into being. 

It has been a question with some 
people, how far early piety takes ils sub- 
ject from play and amusement. Just as 
far, as late piety takes men from labor, — 
labor is the business of manhood — play 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 61 

is equally the business of childhood. One 
is no more inconsistent with religion, 
than the other. Men may labor so much, 
and in such ways as to unfit them for 
the service of God. Then they sin. Chil- 
dren may play so much, and in such 
ways, as to make the Bible and prayer less 
welcome. Then they sin. The man who 
should give himself up to the plays of 
children, except to teach them how to 
play, and to contribute to their enjoyment, 
would be wasting time and talents. The 
child, who should leave his play, for too 
continuous study, or too steady work, 
would be going out of the sphere God 
has appointed, and lose the life of mind, 
and the vigor and strength of body, 
which may make future days useful. 
Labor is likely to be a vast deal more 
selfish and opposed to the gospel than 
play. We " know not what spirit we 



62 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

are of," when we attempt to rob the child 
of some of the most natural and inno- 
cent features of childhood, before we 
allow him to be an heir of grace. Yet 
he must have a heart that can rise to 
higher things — he must have an eye out 
for the one thing needful. I have heard 
some people blame Emily, because she 
would play for hours, and then as she 
was leaving, speak to them of future 
glory. It was strange blame. Her's was 
the course of wisdom and of true piety. 
I remember a most devout classmate, 
who used to study long, and talk long 
of college scenes^ but just before he left, 
would say, " Now, brother, a little for 
Christ, before we part." He was a won- 
derful Christian, although his word for 
Christ came in the last thing. And so 
was Emily a wonderful Christian, though 
her words for religion were after her play, 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 63 

and just as she was going to her home. 
The difference between her, and those who 
blamed her, would be this : that with 
them religion would probably not come in 
either first, middle or last. 



64 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

CHAPTER VII. 

£fje <£reat Question &nsfoeretu 



" Just as I am, without one plea, 
But that thy blood was shed for me, 
And that thou bid'st me come to thee, 
Lamb of God, I come! "—Ryle's Coll. 



You cannot learn what the great life 
question is, by looking at what men are 
saying and doing. It is needful to come 
to the Bible, where life as it should be, 
is drawn out. There we find that the 
great question is, " what shall I do to 
be saved." It is not often answered by 
others to the child. Perhaps they think 
it is not a question that is meant for 
the child ; and suppose he can have no 
idea of it, or its answer. But the most 
likely thing is, that they do not want the 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 65 

toil and care necessary to explain the 
question themselves, or to lead the child 
to some one who will gladly try to 
explain it. The question, " what shall I 
eat, what shall I drink, wherewithal 
shall I be clothed," if it requires some 
toil to answer, is the more favorite, 
because it chimes better with our usual 
thoughts, feelings and words. 

It is not true, that the " great ques- 
tion" may not be intelligently explained 
to the child. To explain it fully, and with 
perfect clearness to the child or the man, 
may be impossible. I imagine that the 
difficulty is quite as great in regard to 
men, as children. Both of them want 
that " experience," without which, all 
attempts to remove obscurity from this 
question may fail. Feelings that have 
never been cherished, cannot be so 
squared out, or colored, that children 



66 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

and men, will see just what they are. 
Talk to the boy of filial love, who seems 
never to have had any, or does not re- 
member any thing of its nature. It is 
not embracing his mother, if it was, he 
would understand it at once. It is not 
following some command of his mother, 
which is only the expression of his love, 
and which he can come easily at. But that 
simple feeling, love, you cannot talk 
into his mind so that he shall see it as 
it is. Yet you can help him to an idea 
of this love. You can tell him what a 
mother his is, what she has done and 
suffered for him, how her heart yearns for 
her wandering boy, how joyous she will 
be at his return to her embrace, how 
she will never mention his fault, but for- 
give and forget it always, how vile he 
is to treat her thus, how certain his 
ruin, if she, the last to be torn away, 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 67 

leaves him ; how happy the present and 
the future, if he can say truly, " Mother, 
I have sinned against heaven and in thy 
sight." Sometimes this is enough. The 
heart breaks, and covered with a mother's 
tears and smiles, the child knows what 
it is to love. 

The apostle did not define to the jailer 
of Philippi. Some might think he ought 
to have explained more to that agitated 
man, what he meant by faith. But the 
apostle knew that his definitions would 
not make a simple feeling of the heart 
clearer. " If thou belie vest with all thy 
heart," said Philip to the eunuch, when 
he wished to know if his faith was gen- 
uine. And what the apostle thought 
best, he did, led the man to as vivid a 
sight as possible of fiis ruin, and placed 
in as clear a light as might be, the Lord 
Jesus Christ, "mighty to save." So in 



68 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

the case of the child ; he asks the " great 
question." We answer, " believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be 
saved." He asks us to tell him what 
this faith is. Here, if we attempt to 
define, it is apt to be only by those words, 
which he will know as little of, as the 
faith itself. Then he asks, cannot you 
help us to come at the faith upon which 
our eternal life hangs. Yes, we can 
state some things in connection with 
which, this faith usually rises. The first 
of these is, the present wicked, lost, 
and ruined state of human nature. "The 
heart is deceitful above all things, and 
desperately wicked." 

M True you are young, but there's a stone 
Within the youngest breast." 

How dreadful such a heart! How dread- 
ful the life of forgetfulness of God, that I 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 69 

have had, however short ! Is there mercy 
for one so sinful ? Can one so ungrate- 
ful, so vile, be saved ? The second thing 
that we can state is, that the Lord Jesus 
Christ has died, that we might be saved 
from sin. He died for us, while we 
were sinners. He is able, and willing 
to save the chief of sinners. This is a 
great thing, that he has the power and 
the heart to save one so guilty as I am. 
He came not to call the righteous, but 
sinners to repentance. I am a sinful 
child. It may be a glory to him, to save 
me. 

" Let not conscience make me linger, 
Nor of fitness fondly dream ; 
All the fitness he requireth, 
Is to feel the need of him." 

But there is a third thing to be stated. 
Every other dependence is to be left for 



70 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

Christ. He is not a Saviour in part, and 
we in part. The struggle to work out 
a righteousness for ourselves, only works 
against our salvation. Should a man be 
going down some mighty current towards 
the precipice, the first thing for others to 
do, is, to throw the rope across his descend- 
ing boat, and the first thing for him to do, 
is to lay by his oars, and take the rope. 
If he keeps rowing, he will be every 
moment coming nearer to ruin ; but if 
he clasps the rope, he will be drawn 
safely to the shore. Jesus Christ has 
thrown his arm over you, as you float 
down to hell. He says, "clasp it." But the 
child says, "Shall I not struggle." Yes, 
struggle, but the object of the struggle 
is to leave all to Christ. The great thing 
is, to allow him to save you, in his own 
way. The chief point is, to be willing 
that he should do all, and you receive 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 71 

willingly at his hands, the great salvation 
he offers. Let him be a complete Saviour. 
Having stated these things, we can do 
no more. The child and the man too, 
must go from the " inquiry room " with 
the heavy heart, unless faith arise amid 
these things. But it usually does arise, 
through the power of the Holy Ghost. 
" So I saw in my dream that just as 
Christian came up with the cross, his 
burden loosed from off his shoulders, 
and fell from off his back, and began 
to tumble, and so continued to do, till 
it came to the mouth of the sepulchre, 
where it fell in, and I saw it no more." 
Emily had none on earth to tell her 
the way. There was no Evangelist close 
by the city of destruction, to say, " Fly, 
fly, do you see yonder shining light;" 
no interpreter at the gate, to join with 
other voices saying, 



72 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

" Come in, come in, 
Eternal glory shalt thou win." 

The mother was gone, to whom the 
heart had alone been opened. She was 
a child, and who is thinking that one so 
young is wanting to know the way to 
heaven? It is winter. The sanctuary is 
distant. And sadly and mournfully I 
must say, that the language of the 
sanctuary might not have met the child's 
case, so that she could have gone home 
saying, " I have found him, that my 
soul loveth." God was his own inter- 
preter. She had the knowledge of faith, 
which experience gives. " Mother/' said 
the child, soon after her return, " I 
was not afraid to die when I was sick." 
" What, Emily," says the mother, " be- 
cause you are so good !" " no, no, but 
because I think the Saviour has forgiven 
my sins," was the reply. She did not 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 73 



speak of indulging a hope, or being a 
Christian. Her eye had been upon her 
sins, and upon a forgiving Saviour. The 
faith as a grain of mustard seed had come ; 
and hereafter, we shall find that it is 
growing and branching, until eternity 
covers it from our view. 

6 



74 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Bmxt for tfje &aIbatton of ©tfjers* 



" Oh! that all the blind but knew Him, 
And would be advised by me ! 
Surely would they hasten to Him, 
He would cause them all to see." — Newton. 



Said a little girl, as I was going from a 
prayer-meeting, some months ago, " Sir, 
I have lost my trouble. I love the Saviour, 
— I wish to go about and speak of him to 
others ; won't you pray for Martha ?" This 
was one of the earliest actings of true 
piety. It begins by thinking who is left. 
It is not enough for Mary, that she has 
chosen the good part. The good part 
seems far more valuable to her, when 
it is shared by others. It might well 
lead Martha to the Saviour's feet, when 



75 

thinking that she who shared the perils 
and joys of her birth and childhood, is 
pleading with the Saviour, that a sister 
may not refuse to become a little child 
at his feet, and partake with her of the 
pleasures and honors of the spiritual birth. 
Guthrie, in his Gospel in Ezekiel, says, 
that " during a heavy storm off the coast 
of Spain, a dismasted Merchantman was 
observed by a British frigate, drifting be- 
fore the gale. Every eye and glass were 
on her. A canvass shelter suggests the 
idea, that there may be life on board. The 
order is given that the ship be put about, 
and the boats bear down upon the wreck. 
The trunk of a man is found, bent head 
and knees together, dried and shriveled, 
so light that a mere boy could lift it. It 
is laid upon the deck of the frigate, which 
is again put on her course, and around 
it the crew gather in horror and pity. 



76 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT, 

They are drawing nearer, for they see it 
move. And then it mutters in a deep 
sepulchral voice, 'there is another man?" 
Wonderful scene ! Happy emblem this, 
of the first expressions of the spiritual 
life. The saved soul looks back for its 
kindred and friends, that are drifting upon 
the wreck, down to ruin. It would go 
itself; it urges others to go for them. 
" There is another man!" It is to the 
Christian, as the cry to the watchman, 
that there is another child looking out 
from the window of the building in flames. 
This feeling is not simply early. It 
is permanent. I know that some seem 
to lose it very soon. But we know there 
are some, whose piety has " no root." 
Their religion is like the "morning cloud." 
No wonder then, that when their apparent 
religion scatters, this peculiar feature of 
religion should be scattered also. But 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 77 

the true Christian remembers, " the hole 
of the pit whence he was digged." It is 
not for the ransomed freemen to forget 
the ruinous bondage to which they freely 
sold themselves. They pity the servants 
of sin, the captives of the great adversary, 
who leadeth men whithersoever he will. 
Till there is no unconverted soul left, 
they will still be crying for Christ, and 
unto Christ, "there is another man!" 
They would move heaven and earth for 
his salvation. 

I find the following letter of Emily's, 
written when eight years old : 

" My dear sister, 

" Have you made your peace with 
God ? I wish you would give your heart 
to him who died to save you from eternal 
death. If you would, you should receive 
a crown of glory that fadeth not away, 



78 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT, 

and a house not made with hands, eternal 
and on high. When you lie down to- 
night, think of heavenly things. 

" Your affectionate sister, 

" Emily Jane." 

This is as I find it, except capitals and 
stops, which the child knew nothing of. 
It is the out-flow of a heart not at rest, 
till others share its blessings. 

The following I find written when she 
was ten years old. 

" Manchester, April 3, 1849. 
" My dear friend, 

" Long since I promised to write 
you, but I have been so busy with my 
studies and other things, that I have not 
fulfilled my promise. I have enjoyed good 
health during the winter, and hope you 
have enjoyed the same blessing. If we 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 79 

are Christians, after this life has passed 
away, we shall go to heaven, where is 
no sickness or death. I hope you will 
give your heart to God, become a Christ- 
ian, and love and serve him during the 
remaining years of your life. ' When 
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us/ 
and gratitude, love and duty, urge us 
to devote our powers to his service. How 
important that God's will should be ours, 
that our aims, views and purposes, should 
be like his. At the last great day Christ 
will separate the sheep from the goats, 
and will say to those on his right hand, 
6 Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit 
the kingdom prepared for you from the 
foundation of the world.' He will say 
to those on his left, ' Depart from me, 
ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared 
for the devil and his angels.' I want to 
see you very much, and hope I shall have 



80 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

the pleasure soon. Lizzie sends her love 
to you and your sister. Please to give 
my love to her also. 

" Your affectionate friend, 
"Emily Jane Goodhue." 

The desire goes on. In her journal 
for August, 1850, there is the following : 
a Yesterday, we visited Georgiana. I 
slept with her last night, and spoke to 
her on the subject of religion. She said 
she had given her heart to God." 

"October 7th, 1851. Sister hurt her 
head this afternoon, when she was play- 
ing. If God had not protected her, she 
might have been killed. Oh, I wish she 
would become a Christian." 

" July 2d, 1853. Mr. Whitney attended 
church here all day with his wife, and 
appears quite interested. God grant that 
he may be converted." 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 81 

" Manchester, April 13*A, 1857." The 
record is concerning her school at Water- 
town, and her afflicted friends at Manches- 
ter. " After five weeks being sick, I 
left my scholars to whom I am much 
attached, and whom I am often con- 
strained to remember at a throne of 
grace." " May the bereaved widow and 
children be prepared, by God's grace, to 
rejoin the loved and lost of other days, 
where all an unbroken band shall cele- 
brate his praise throughout eternity. 
Lord give me faith to pray and labor, to 
the extent of my powers, for the accom- 
plishment of this great end." 

There are many who remember the 
visits of Emily to their dwellings. One 
of the most pleasing things in these visits 
was, that she took the children away, 
to read the Bible and pray with them. 
She did not forget them upon returning 



82 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

home. At the age of ten years, she is 
going away, and praying with her cousin, 
— a boy then but ten years old. He 
was on her heart even in death, when 
she requested that some religious book 
might be given him. That boy, now 
a man, is off upon the seas. Let him 
not forget that early hour of prayer ; 
let him remember, that the last beatings 
of a cousin's heart were for his salvation. 
Let him look beyond the stars, which 
shine upon his deck, to the higher star 
that would send its light down to guide 
him to heaven. The spirit that yearned 
for him here, is waiting to rejoice in his 
repentance. 

The close of life is coming. But the 
desire for the welfare of others, cannot 
cease. When feeble, she would have 
them called to her side, that she might 
urge them to attend to their eternal 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 83 

interests. The message she sends to the 
children of Rowley is, " Tell them they 
cannot begin to serve God too early." 
When she cannot write herself, she pens, 
just before dying, by a mother's hand, 
the following to friends, to whom.it would 
seem likely to be the arrow of God, that 
reaches the heart : 

" My dear uncle and aunt, 

U I feel that I shall not continue here 
long, and not having strength to speak 
with you, I have asked mother to write 
my last words to you. I have long de- 
sired and prayed that you might become 
Christians, and as my life draws to a close 
this desire for you both increases, that 
you may be truly a happy family here, 
and an unbroken one hereafter. I feel 
that the soul will not perish with this 
frail body ; and nothing but the religion 



84 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

of the Bible can sustain it amid the trials 
of life, and in its conflict with the last 
enemy. Death for the Christian, is but 
an angel that admits him to his Father's 
presence. 

" I remember with gratitude your kind- 
ness to me since I was but a child, and 
want to express the love and sincere 
thanks of 

" Your truly affectionate niece, 
" Emily J. Goodhue.'' 

This desire is one of the things that 
does not fail. It survives the body. It 
has gone home with departing friends, to 
keep company with those joyous emo- 
tions that mingle in the new song. 
Can it not be gratified now ? Is the 
angel the only one that rejoices over the 
repentance of the sinner? Say it not, 
for the Master has not said it. Child, 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 85 

you often wish the mother back, that 
you might dry up the tears you have 
caused. Every tear is now wiped away, 
but the joy of that honored heart has 
not yet gone to the height it may reach. 
Only repent, and trust in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and go about doing good, and no 
spirit shall more animatingly and joyfully 
stand up in heaven, than that, which, in 
the earthly tabernacle, once watched over 
your steps. 



86 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



CHAPTEE IX 



M The tender age was pliant to command ; 
Like wax it yielded to the forming hand." — Dry den. 



I saw a child lately, crying as if her 
heart would break, because she could not 
go with a little girl, who came in to 
invite her to sleep with her. Now the 
reason of this crying was, because she 
did not feel that her mother knew the 
best. It takes us till we grow up, to 
understand how little we know. This 
child after some entreaty gave way. Many 
would have kept urging long after the 
mother had decided. Others, perhaps, 
would have taken the sad course of steal- 
ing out of the house, and unbeknown to 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 87 

parents, do the very things which they 
had forbidden. The commands of a parent 
sometimes seem hard. But we. will ven- 
ture to say, that ninety-nine from every 
hundred look back from riper years, and 
count the directions of their childhood, 
which once seemed hard, reasonable and 
right. 

But some may ask, why introduce the 
child's obedience here ? You have come 
upon the things which follow the new 
heart. But this obedience is something 
which unchristian children sometimes 
reach. True, this is the case. But what I 
am thinking of is, the higher, broader, and 
surer motive which the Christian child 
has. You have heard of having two 
strings to the bow. The advantage is, 
that when one ceases to work well, you 
may take the other. Perhaps if you could 
braid the two together, and have the 



88 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

strength of both at once, your arrow 
would be more sure to reach the mark. 
It is a great thing to find the usual claim 
which parents have to our obedience 
operating. But there is another claim. 
God requires and loves the obedience of 
the child. "Children," says St. Paul, 
" obey your parents in all things, for 
this is well pleasing unto the Lord." 
Here is an amazing motive. The fear 
that we shall be punished by the parent, 
when we are doing wrong, does not move 
us much, while we think the wrong 
will not be seen. But a higher than the 
parent sees. It is a great advantage 
when we come up to this idea, that God 
is looking and hearing, when the eyes 
and ears of father and mother are closed. 
But it is not the highest attainment, to 
obey merely because God sees. This is 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 89 

the noblest spring of obedience, that " it 
is right, that it pleases jSod." 

Children read in their tale-books the 
sad end of those who disobey their parents. 
Sometimes the end is very sad ; yet they 
are not always cut down, when they go 
away to do what their parents forbid. I 
heard of an infidel once boasting, that 
he planted a piece of corn Sunday, hoed it 
Sunday, gathered it in Sunday, and that 
he had quite a large yield, notwithstanding 
it was all Sunday work. The reason of 
this was, as another has said, that God does 
not square up his accounts at seed-time or 
harvest. He means to punish the man, 
by letting him wax worse and worse, 
through his prosperity, until his doom, 
coming unexpectedly, shall be found the 
heavier. It may be that you will safely 
get off the pond upon which you are 
skating, or out of the boat in which you 



90 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

are sailing, contrary to the command of 
your parents. The end is not yet. Wait 
and see how fares the disobedient child, 
what kind of a man he becomes ; what 
are his prospects for eternity. Rise to the 
highest motive, that of obeying because 
" this is right,'" because it is " well pleas- 
ing unto the Lord." Then you will be- 
likely to have an obedience which does 
not change with times and seasons. 

Some children rise to this high motive. 
The question with them is, " is this right I" 
They feel bound " whether they eat, or 
drink, or whatsoever they do, to do all 
to the glory of God." Emily was an obe- 
dient child. She used to say to her sister, 
" Lizzie, mother knows best." But her 
obedience became much easier, and more 
sure, when she came to possess that 
Christian heart which made her feel that 
in obeying her parents, she was obeying 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 91 

and pleasing God. " We must act in all 
things so as to please God," was her fre- 
quent language. The intemperate man may 
be held by his pledge ; but if he has also 
a heart right in the sight of God, there 
is something to hold him, when his pledge 
seems too old to be binding, and when 
there are none to see and hear its viola- 
tions. So with the child. His promise 
may be pleasing, and seem to hold him 
to the commands of home. But let him 
have the humble and contrite heart; the 
fear and love of God, fresh and strong, 
and his respect for a parent's wishes will 
reach even beyond the hour, when he 
has become a parent himself, and is accus- 
tomed to govern rather than obey. There 
is a day of universal religion coming to 
the world, when the obedience of homes 
will be hearty and constant. The reason 
is not, that children will be born holy. 



92 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

But this is the reason, that very early 
they will have that Christian heart which 
leads them to honor their parents from 
the mighty motive, that " this is right 
and well pleasing unto the Lord." 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 93 



CHAPTER X. 

Sensitiveness to Sin— Desire to be J^olg. 



<; Nearer, my God, to thee, 

Nearer to thee, 
E'en though it be a cross 

That raiseth me ! 
Still all my song shall be, 
Nearer, my God, to thee — 
Nearer to thee." — Adams. 



There are some plants that cannot bear 
to be touched. They shrink away and 
fold their leaves, as if in instinctive resent- 
ment that we have come nigh them. 
Perhaps they are not unapt emblems of 
the spiritual plants, our heavenly Father 
has planted. The children of God shrink 
from sin. There can be no two sub- 
stances in nature, which are more foreign 
to each other, and seek more earnestly 



94 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FPwUIT. 



to expel and destroy each other, than 
the new heart which God has given, and 
sin of which the devil is the father. 

The sensitiveness we speak of, is not 
directed to any particular sin. There 
are many children who are not Christ- 
ians, that have a dread of some sins. 
They would not like to be in company, 
where God's name is profaned. It would 
be a sad thing to them to be charged 
with lying. But this shrinking feeling 
does not come up, when they are doing 
other things offensive to God. Perhaps 
when they play or read idle tales upon 
the Sabbath, or do things which their 
parents would not love ; or have angry 
tempers, or waste their time, or neglect 
to pray and read the Bible, they do not 
draw back, as though they had been 
touching a viper, 



which midit dcstrov 



their life. The u true sensitiveness ' 5 is 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 95 

to all sin, to every thing which offends 
God. It is different from the dread of 
punishment. There is a child in tears, 
because it knows that it shall be punished 
for the wrong it has done. But the tears 
are all gone, when some one tells it, 
that the parent or teacher will never 
hear of its crime. There is another 
child, that weeps just as heartily after 
the punishment is over as before, and 
would weep thus, if it expected to escape 
punishment altogether. The reason is, 
it knows it has done a shameful thing, 
when it has gone contrary to the kind 
commands of the home or the school. 
The jailer of Philippi may have trembled 
at the first, lest he should be ruined 
with the ruin of his prison. But when 
he came, and washed away the stripes 
of the disciples, and carried them into 
his own house, and set meat before 



96 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

them, then he trembled at the wrong 
he had done, and repaired it as fast 
and as far as he could. He might have 
thought that there would be stripes for 
himself on the morrow ; but he cared for 
them far less, than for the wrong which 
the fear of them might stimulate him to 
do. Martyrs might escape the flames, if 
they would deny their Lord. But the 
denial of the Lord which bought them, 
they shrink from, more than from all 
possible agony of body. 

It is said of Saul, that there " fell 
scales from his eyes," when Ananias 
touched them. This was an emblem of 
the vail, which had before fallen from 
off his heart. He could see and feel 
sin, as never before. To God it is " the 
abominable thing which his soul hateth." 
So it is to men, who are like God. They 
can hardly endure themselves, when sin is 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 97 

seen upon their own heart and life. If it 
were but a speck, it would look like a 
mountain. " I know not," says Presi- 
dent Edwards, " how to express better 
what my sins appear to me to be, than 
by heaping infinite upon infinite, and mul- 
tiplying infinite by infinite." " I abhor 
myself and repent in dust and ashes," 
is the saying of the saint whom God so 
long tried. One of the most earnest 
pleas of a very devoted Christian, I 
remember to be this, " Cleanse us from 
the least and last remains of sin." 

Some have been astonished to see Christ- 
ians so ready to leave the world. It 
is not that they may escape its pains. 
There is a deeper trouble than pain. 
There is a higher desire than to have 
their body returned to the freshness 
and vigor of youth. They have heard 
of the land, of which more can be said, 



98 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

than that " the inhabitant shall not say 
I am sick." The robes of the upper 
world are white. The words " Holy, 
Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty," are 
rising from beings as truly pure, as he 
is toward whom they go. The Christ- 
ian is anxious to go where he shall be 
without spot or stain. So he sings, 

" Only waiting till the angels 
Open wide the mystic gate ; 
At whose feet I long have lingered, 
Heavy, poor and desolate." 

" Holiness," says President Edwards in 
an account of his religious experience, 
" appeared to me to be of a sweet, plea- 
sant, charming, serene, calm nature ; 
which brought an inexpressible purity, 
brightness, peacefulness and ravishment 
to the soul. In other words, it makes 
the soul like a field or garden of God, 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 99 

with all manner of pleasant flowers, 
all pleasant, delightful, undisturbed ; en- 
joying a sweet calm, and the gently vivify- 
ing beams of the sun." 

Do children ever feel thus ? Do the 
young turn aside from their usual troubles, 
to be troubled most, that they are not 
free from sin ; from their ordinary desires, 
to wish above all things, that they may be 
" holy, as God is holy " '( We shall see. 
I find in Emily's journal of October 7, 
1849, this : 

u It was so stormy this morning, none 
of us went to meeting. I am sorry to 
say that I have not remembered the 
Sabbath day to keep it holy. I am 
not holy, and do not do right. I long 
for holiness and to serve God." 

" September 30, 1849.— At noon I 
might have spoken to the little girls, 



100 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

but I did not. Will it give me pleasure 
to think of this neglected duty upon my 
dying-bed ? I feel that I am no better 
than others, who are not Christians." 

" October 9, 1849.— I yield to tempta- 
tion too much ; I hope I shall obey the 
command, ' When sinners entice thee, con- 
sent thou not.' Whether I am at home, 
or at school, at work or at play, J hope 
I shall glorify God in all I do or say." 

" November 30, 1850.— This is the last 
day of the month. Have I made any pro- 
gress in spiritual things ? Have I grown 
in grace, and in the knowledge of God 
our Saviour ? Am I any nearer heaven 
now, than I was at the commencement 
of the month ? 0, that I was more 
heavenly, more obedient, more Christ-like. 
I must live for God, for heaven, for 
eternity." 

" June 23, 1851. — My sins yesterday 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 101 

were pride, anger, idleness, unkindness. 
I must strive against these sins." 

" February 19, 1853.— My thoughts 
wandered while in the house of God. 
I hope I shall try to practice what I hear. 
I want to be more careful about my 
thoughts and words." 

This is only a selection from a record, 
which speaks repeatedly of such feelings 
as these toward sin and holiness. The 
desire of the journal may now be com- 
pletely answered. While I copy the 
record, the spirit that inspired it is, 
doubtless, joyously thinking, that it has 
" washed its robes, and made them white 
in the blood of the Lamb." 



102 



CHAPTER XI 

Self-Examination, 



! Man, know thyself, all wisdom centers there/' — Young. 



We are told " not to think of ourselves 
more highly than we ought to think." 
Perhaps we should not, if we were 
accustomed to inquire more after our 
own real character. There is a vail on 
the heart which obscures the view of 
spiritual objects, without us. Equally 
does it hide from us, the true nature of 
our own thoughts, feelings and acts. 
Self-examination sometimes rends this 
vail. 

It is said that the heathen had written 
in golden characters upon the Delphic 
temple, " Know thyself." Those who came 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 103 

to the temple might read the letters, and 
learn one of the earliest of their duties. 
There is more Christianity than heathen- 
ism in this short sentence. They con- 
sidered the " Know thyself," above human 
discovery, and claimed for it a divine 
original. This was not a mistake. It 
was one of those heaven-descended sen- 
timents, which floats away from the spot 
on which it first fell, and is picked up 
in distant ages and lands, by those who 
are not generally shrewd and candid 
enough to acknowledge its divine birth. 

Socrates used to say, that " He knew 
no reason, why the oracle pronounced 
him to be the wisest of men, except it 
was, that being conscious of his ignorance, 
he was willing to confess that he knew 
nothing." He had abandoned the search 
of nature, as something which did not 
yield him profit. Self-investigation, and 



104 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



a study of the rules for directing life, was 
his great employment. It ought to be 
the employment of others. It is a sad 
thing that we are such strangers at home ; 
that we know more of the world without 
us, than the world within us. An eye that 
could look in upon its own delicate struc- 
ture would be wonderful. That man is 
"wonderfully made," who can not only 
send out his thoughts, but turn them 
back upon themselves. He perverts his 
nature, when he refuses to do it. His 
refusal to reflect, may perpetuate his 
errors. His careful self-reflection, may 
give him something to brighten life, when 
all without is dark. 

Yet self-examination is by no means 
common. We have sunk below intel- 
ligent heathenism. Most men dare 
not " face their own thoughts." Shut 
them up to commune with themselves 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 105 

and it is like shutting them up with 
" ghosts and spectres." Hence they 
keep driving amid the things of the 
world, until they can go and forget every 
thing in sleep. Thus it will be, till God 
wakes them in death, to the question, 
" What have I done ?" It should not be 
so with the Christian. He hears God's 
voice, " Ponder the path of thy feet, keep 
thy heart with all diligence, examine your- 
selves, prove yourselves." The apostle 
says to the Corinthians, " Know ye not 
yourselves." No wonder he speaks thus. 
It is an astonishing thing that a man 
should call himself a Christian, and yet 
be indifferent to the inquiry, 'whether he 
has much of real religion in him. The 
Christian has a gospel, which is constantly 
opening the heart as it is, and as it 
ought to be. It is the glass where the 
heart is seen. He had better give up the 



106 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

gospel, or keep his eye upon his own soul, 
to see how far it corresponds with the 
precepts, and how far it is likely to find 
the promises of that gospel. It is a poor 
religion indeed, which does not make you 
willing, and glad to search your wounds, 
that they may be healed by the balm of 
Gilead, and to look carefully for those 
already healed, that you may praise and 
glorify the Great Physician. Self-exami- 
nation is a privilege, which should be daily 
used by those who do not wish to be sur- 
prised by the revelations of the judgment. 
Emily availed herself of this privilege. 
She used to be heard after she had gone 
to the rest of night, examining herself 
aloud, asking herself questions such as 
these, " How she spent the day, whether 
she had indulged in anger, or in pride." 
The following is from the journal of 
December 8, 1849: 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 107 

11 To-day is my birthday. I am eleven 
years old. How have these years and 
months of my life been spent? Have I 
walked holy and humbly with God, or 
have I daily and hourly sinned against 
him ? I hope I have given my heart to 
him, but I have occasion to mourn over 
my sinfulness, and wretchedness. I sin 
against him every day and hour, yet he 
has spared me. I have never wanted food, 
or raiment, or pleasures. For these and 
many other blessings, I should be very 
grateful, but the best way to show my 
gratitude is, to help others on to heaven, 
to labor to bring others into his kingdom." 

" August 31, 1851.— This is the last 
day of August and of summer. It may 
be the last summer I shall spend on earth. 
If so, am I prepared for death and to 
enter eternity ? The Saviour has said, 
1 We shall know all men by their works. 



108 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

Even a child is known by his doings.' 
I hope I shall live so as to bring no dis- 
grace upon the religion of the Saviour." 
" September 5, 1852. — It was commu- 
nion at noon. It is nearly four years 
since I united with this church. The 
longer I live, I hope to live nearer to God. 
I tried to examine myself, that I might 
not partake unworthily." 

The beloved disciple talks of " boldness 
in the day of judgment." Probably he 
means, that we may be above shame and 
confusion. We doubtless shall be, if faith- 
ful to reflect upon each day, and to know 
and repent of each day's faults. Then 
the judgment will not open a sealed or 
unknown book, and overwhelm us with 
debts, which have never been canceled. 



THE. BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 109 

CHAPTER XII. 

f&umtittg. 



1 Come lowly ; He will help thee. Lay aside 
That subtle, first of evils — human pride.*' — Dana. 



The great Newton said, after his wonder- 
ful discoveries, that, " he seemed to him- 
self, like a boy picking up pebbles upon 
the sea-shore ; while the great ocean of 
knowledge was spreading before him." 
He was humble in regard to his own 
attainments, because he saw how much 
there was yet undiscovered. The Christ- 
ian has another ground for humility. 
After doing much, he finds a vast amount 
which he ought to have done, still incom- 
plete. He sees the wastes of his heart 
and life, when the sun of righteousness 
has arisen upon him. 



110 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

Louis XIY. used to say, that he never 
left his chapel, after the preaching of 
Massilon, without being " discontented 
with himself." This is not a common 
feeling with other men, any more than 
with monarchs. But it is very desirable. 
It is quite a different feeling from being 
discontented with our lot in life. Children 
and others, often very wickedly complain. 
If they would change their complaints, 
and be troubled that they have so little 
love for God and Christ, they would see 
so much more of blessing in their circum- 
stances than they deserve, that they would 
rejoice rather than complain. As far as 
we can observe, people are more apt to 
be humbled for others than for them- 
selves. They are ashamed to think how 
far others are, from what they should be, 
rather than at the little faithfulness and 
purity to which they themselves can lay 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. Ill 

claim. The Pharisee said, " I thank thee 
that I am not as this publican." It was 
true enough that he was not like him. Per- 
haps take life together, the publican had 
been the greater sinner of the two. But 
he had something which " shall hide a 
multitude of sins." He was confounded 
and mortified, that he had so offended God. 
He had the humble and contrite spirit, 
with which, "the high and lofty One, that 
inhabiteth eternity," dwells. 

Nothing more certainly defeats its object, 
than pride. He that flies into the face 
of the sun, must lose his sight. He 
that thinks to be as the gods knowing 
good and evil, will be likely to be tasting 
bitterly of the evil, when it is too late 
to discover the good. It is the law of 
God's universe that, " whosoever exalt- 
eth himself, shall be abased." Children 
that grow up with the impression that 



112 

others are far beneath them, may lament 
their folly, when they see those the first 
in society, who once cheerfully did its 
most humble services ; that the man who 
overcame Goliath, and reigned so glori- 
ously in Judea, was the boy who gladly 
tended the father's sheep, and carried the 
parched corn, and the ten loaves, and 
ten cheeses to the camp of his brethren. 
They will certainly find that at the day 
of judgment, " the last shall be first, 
and the first last." Nothing is truly 
beneath us, but what is sinful. Then are 
we magnificently arrayed, when " clothed 
with humility." Then do we let our 
" light shine before men, to glorify our 
Father which is in heaven," when we 
do not imagine that it is shining, and 
our low attainments become brilliant when 
they are reflecting " the ornament of a 
meek and quiet spirit, which is in the 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 113 

sight of God of great price.'' The 
humility is to be real. Some, probably, 
confess what they do not believe and feel. 
When you tell them that they are in fact 
just what they say, they will show such 
a spirit of resentment, as to make you 
think it is easier to tell one's sins unto 
God, and sometimes unto men, than it 
is to have " the same mind in us, which 
was also in Christ Jesus." He was " lowly 
in heart." He washed the disciples' feet. 
He was " obedient unto death, even the 
death of the cross." 

The following is a composition of 
Emily's, when between nine and ten 
years old. " Flowers are very beautiful, 
scattered over the face of the earth. By 
the road-side, in fields and meadows, we 
find these tokens of God's love to fallen 
and sinful man. Surely God is good, 
and his mercy is over all his works. 



114 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

Since God is so good to us, should we 
not love him, and live to his glory ? The 
pleasures of life, like flowers by the road- 
side, are of short duration. The violet 
is the emblem of humility. Let us then 
be like that humble and beautiful flower, 
not intruding ourselves on the public 
gaze, but humble and unassuming, let 
us fill the station in which God has 
placed us, and perform our duties aright." 

Much of the later journals, seems to 
have been dictated by her, and written 
down by her mother or sister, because of 
a weakness of sight. She resumes the 
record, July 13, 1856, thus : 

" Many, many days have passed, since 
my hand last traced here the records of 
good or evil, joy or sorrow. But mem- 
ory retains many half-formed resolutions, 
thoughts and feelings, known to no other, 
save him who gave to me the power of 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 115 

thought. Oh ! may the Giver of my intel- 
lect guide aright its every act. I have 
been for a short time engaged as a Sabbath 
school teacher. I shrink from endeavor- 
ing to express my feelings on this subject 
by formal phrases, fearing lest I may err 
in so doing. I desire rather to treasure 
in my own heart, each faint desire for 
usefulness, each faltering petition and 
anxious loving effort, for the salvation of 
my little flock." 

Much of this kind might be added. 
Amid the varied efforts of a useful life, 
the worker retires behind the work, and 
is recognized by the Christian saying, 
" We are unprofitable servants, we have 
done that which was our duty to do." 
If Emily was a distinguished Christian, it 
was because God fulfilled the saying, " he 
giveth grace to the humble." 

It is in vain to hope that we shall begin 



116 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

and continue the Christian life, without 
the deepest humility. The gate is straight, 
the way is narrow. Puffed up with pride, 
we cannot enter. We may seem to 
enter, but after a few days or months, 
it will be found, that we have " climbed 
up some other way," and are falling off 
into the broad road. " Humbled in the 
dust," is the motto upon the gate. Thus 
humbled, we may enter in. We may share 
in the heavenly song, which is no more 
certainly new, than it is humbling. The 
only tenants of heaven, that were ever 
lifted up with pride, have found their 
reward by being cast down to hell. 
The Seraphim that remain, " cover their 
face and their feet," in the presence of 
God. All that go up from this earth, 
must cast their crowns at his feet. They 
have thus far, they will forever ascribe 
salvation from first to last, to the Lamb 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 117 

that was slain. Parent, child, are you 
ready to cease from self, and be lost in 
him, who is " the Alpha and Omega, the 
first and the last." 



118 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

(E0ttttmtm0tt dragon. 



" Life's poor distinctions vanish here, 
To-day, the young, the old, 
Our Saviour and his flock appear, 
One Shepherd and onefold." — Montgomery. 



The question whether a child should join 
the church, depends upon the question, 
whether he may and can be a disciple of 
Christ. For it is idle to say, that any 
one can receive Christ, truly believe on 
him, and yet not be suited to feed on 
him by faith, at his table. That a child 
may be as " effectually called " at the 
dawning of the day, as the gray-haired 
sinner at its decline, we ought not to 
doubt. And so we should welcome him 
to a profession of faith, which he can 



119 

understand to be revealed by God, to a 
covenant, which fitly expresses his love 
and duty at a table, where he can, with 
a heavenly simplicity, behold his Lord. 
Spurgeon, in one of his sermons, tells a 
tale, which he says he has reason to 
believe authentic. " A dear little girl 
some five or six years old, a true lover of 
Jesus, requested of her mother, that she 
might join the church. The mother told 
her she was too young. The poor little 
thing was grieved exceedingly ; and after 
a while the mother, who saw that piety 
was in her heart, spoke to the minister 
on the subject. The minister talked to 
the child, and said to the mother, ' I am 
thoroughly convinced of her piety, but 
I cannot take her into the church ; she 
is too young.' When the child heard 
that, a strange gloom passed over her 
face, and the next morning when her 



120 

mother went to her little bed, she lay 
with a pearly tear or two on each eye, 
dead for very grief ; her heart was broken 
because she could not follow her Saviour, 
and do as he had bidden her. I would 
not have murdered that child for a world. 
It is better sometimes to be deceived, than 
to be the means of ruining one." 

Now we do not suppose that the distrust- 
ful, unkind and contemptuous spirit which 
children sometimes meet, when they think 
of coming to the Lord's table, will often 
be the cause of their death. Yet we do 
suppose, that it may chill the life of 
their piety. Their heart for Christ may 
be sadly broken. Their hopes for a life 
of usefulness and an eternity of joy, 
may be cruelly murdered. We agree 
with Spurgeon, that it is better to be 
deceived sometimes, than it is to stand 
on the " path of life," and order the 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 121 

children away. We are deceived in grown 
people. Perhaps we are more likely to 
be deceived in them than in children. 
But our liability to deception is not to 
make a hedge around the table of the 
Lord, to frighten his friends away. The 
" little buds of grace " are worthy of a 
trust and care, that they do not often 
find. We remember a little boy ten years 
old, who loved the Lord Jesus Christ. 
When he heard that the same Lord Jesus, 
who had said " Suffer the little children 
to come unto me," wished his disciples 
to remember him at his table by eating 
the bread and drinking the cup, he 
asked the privilege of communing there, 
as others did. His father told him that 
he was too young, that he must have 
more knowledge and wait till he became 
stronger.. 

Not long after, the boy was sent out as 



122 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

the night storm was coining on. to gather 
the sheep and the lambs. The father asked 
at his return, why he had left out one weak 
and sickly lamb. The reply was pertinent. 
4 - Father," said he. u I have left the lamb 
out until it grows strong, and then I 
mean to bring it into the fold." It is 
hardly necessary to say, that the Lord's 
table seemed to the suspicious father, the 
most suitable place for his boy. The 
feeble lamb is most likely to recover 
when taken in from the storm. The babe 
in Christ grows most rapidly and securely 
to the perfect man in Christ Jesus, when 
taken in from the world and the devil, 
sheltered by Christian sympathies, sur- 
rounded by Christian counsel and prayer, 
and allowed to feed upon Christ, as far 
as the emblems of his body and blood 
allow us thus to feed. 
Emily had the Lord's table in view 






THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 123 

quite early. Several times in reading 
the Bible, she would say, " Mother, I sup- 
pose I am not old enough to eat and 
drink in remembrance of Christ ; when 
may I come and do it ?" It was manifest 
that she felt the command addressed to 
her, " This do in remembrance of me." 
But what if she did feel it ? Christians 
generally would not feel it. Wherever 
she went, she did not see children in the 
church. The teaching of the sanctuary 
was not, that there was as much reason 
to expect children to remember Christ, 
as others. It was in the fall of 1847, 
when she was between nine and ten years 
old, that I asked her if she would like 
to have a place at the table of the Lord, 
and told her that she might if she desired 
it. She spoke to her mother of the con- 
versation, asked what she thought it best 
for her to do. The mother explained to 



124 THE BUD. BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

her the nature and design of the Institu- 
tion, told her that she might have the 
next day free from her studies, and spend 
it in inquiry concerning her duty. She 
took her Bible after breakfast, staid in 
the parlor till dinner, and after dinner 
treat again, and remained till tea. After 
tea she said that she was decided and 
should come to the church ; that she had 
improper feelings when first beginning 
to think of it. and she was afraid of 
being laughed at by her companions ; that 
she feared she had been thinking of hap 
piness, instead of holiness, but after exam- 
ination, felt that she wanted to be holy 
above all things else, knowing that her 
happiness would come as a matter of 
course. 

TTe have seen children watch the 
clouds when the fourth of July was c onl- 
ine, or when thev were going to the sea- 



125 

shore. Their hearts were so much inter- 
ested in the pleasures that were coining, 
that they dreaded the faintest cloy.d that 
might indicate the storm. Emily was 
watching the heavens. It was the 
night in which she was to appear before 
the church. She feared not to come 
before the church, but only the rainy 
night that might hinder her coming. 
We remember that night. The lamb 
was at the gate of the fold. The old 
disciples had come to hear a child tell in 
simplicity, a faith which she understood 
as well as they, and an experience as 
genuine as any, to which they need aspire. 
It was a wonderful season. The door 
was open to the children. Several have 
entered since. And ere the day comes 
that thejr shall be hindered from entering, 
may we cease from our labors, and join 



126 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

in the song which children shall be wel- 
come to share. 

It is Sabbath morning. Nature is 
fading — the leaves falling. But " those 
that be planted in the house of the Lord 
shall flourish in the courts of our God." 
It was the children's day. One of their 
number was doing, what they all ought 
to be prepared to do. Joyfully she is 
vowing to the Lord : * 

"O, happy bond that seals my vows 
To him, who merits all my love ! 
Let cheerful anthems fill his house, 
While to that sacred shrine I move." 

The sermon in the morning was from 
Isaiah, 40 : 11, " He shall gather the 
lambs with his arm, and carry them in 
his bosom ;" in the afternoon from 1st 
Samuel, 3 : 10, " And the Lord came, and 
stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 127 

Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, 
for thy servant heareth." We endeavored 
to obey the Saviour's voice, " Feed my 
lambs." It was a happy and profitable 
day. May the church of which Emily 
became a member, see many such, before 
it is lost hi the church triumphant. 
May the children ere long feel it to be 
their church, because they form so large 
a share of its members. 

The week after coming to the church, 
Emily is found crying at night. Her 
mother asked her, if she was sorry she 
had come. " 0, no," she said, " only 
Satan is tempting me. But the hymn 
says, ' He worries those he can't devour.' 
I shall get the victory, for I know where 
to go for strength. He never tempted 
me before I thought of giving my heart 
to God. I had rather have these tempt- 
ations, than be as I was before." There 



128 THE BUD. BLOSSOM AND FPXIT. 

is another circumstance as indicative that 
the table of the Lord was the place for 
her. In writing to an aged friend, she 
states the services of the Sabbath, the 

preaching to the children, and a single 
thing which made her feel badly, when 
mentioned by the pastor. It was this. 
;i President Edwards says, that a little girl 
of four years old was thought to be con- 
verted in the revival of 1735. and that he 
may write concerning her. years afterward, 
that she is yet living, and had uniformly, 
from that early period, maintained the 
character of a true convert." She says. 
"It made me feci very badly, that any little 
girl could love the Saviour at four years 
old; and I waited till I was seven, before 
I loved him. or once thanked him truly 
that he had died for me." This may 
seem a light cause for grief to many. It 
showed clearlv that Emilv had be^un to 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 129 

weigh acts in God's balances. Earthly 
treasures and pleasures that are lost, may 
be a trifle ; but to lose three years from the 
service of God is a great matter. "Where 
are the tears that are many and bitter 
enough for those, who have lost ten, twen- 
ty, thirty, forty, or fifty years, which might 
have been spent in spreading the knowl- 
edge and love of Christ ? 

Afterward we find Emily expressing 
uniform satisfaction that she had obeyed 
the dying command of her Lord. When 
expecting to go to the table, she made 
a peculiar preparation. The prayers 
offered the week before, and the hymns 
read, such as, 

" Jesus has gone above the skies," 

seemed directed to the coming feast. 
And whenever in her journeyings, she 
knew that it was communion day at 



130 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

Rowley, she would go over as well as 
she could, the covenant she had taken, 
and remember as well as she could, the 
Lord which the people of God there 
were remembering. She communed in 
spirit — she was with us in spirit, if 
not in body. So she is still — so she will 
be, till we see her in glory : 

" The saints on earth, and all the dead, 
But one communion make ; 
All join in Christ their living head, 
And of his grace partake." 






THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 131 



CHAPTER XIV. 



" Think of thy brother no ill, but throw a vail over his failings, 
Guide the erring aright ; for the good, the heavenly shepherd 
Took the lost lamb in his arms, and bore it back to its mother. 
This is the fruit of love, and it is by its fruits that we know it." 

Bishop Tegner. 



The church is called "the body of Christ." 
There must be in its parts a close harmony, 
or it is vain to expect vigor, strength and 
health, in the great whole. We remember 
the sad result in the fable, when the 
members of the body set vip for themselves, 
careless of the needs and wishes of each 
other. It is an emblem of the decay of 
the vital force of the church, when " one 
saith, I am of Paul, another I am of 
Apollos, and a third I am of Cephas," 



132 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

while to all the name of Christ seems 
but an after-thought. We could wish 
that the wonderful name, " Christians," 
given first at Antioch, had a higher 
place in the thoughts and feelings of the 
followers of the Lamb. Let the coat of 
the Redeemer be seamless. We remember 
that in one of Whitfield's higher flights, 
there is an anticipation of heaven, and 
a search for denominational traces there. 
But he cannot find them. The great 
throng before the throne, is undivided. 
It may be that we shall always bear sepa- 
rate names here ; but we need not want 
the sympathetic spirit. It is not right to 
value the name, more than the disciple 
it covers. When we care more for the 
careless and ungodly, who attend our 
own particular meeting, or bear our own 
particular name, than for those who really 
love the Saviour, but " follow not us," 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 133 

we should remember his voice to the dis- 
ciples, who would not welcome another's 
work for Christ, unless done in their 
chosen way ; " whosoever shall offend one 
of these little ones that believe in me, 
it is better for him that a millstone were 
hanged about his neck, and he were cast 
into the sea." " Do good unto all men, 
especially unto them who are of the house- 
hold of faith," is the law of God. The 
" household of faith" then, is the great 
object for Christian care, love and labor. 
Who shall presume to sink it below the 
world in his thoughts and affections ? 

There are local churches — small branches 
of the great tree — minute parts of the 
great church, whose name they may bear, 
and the still greater church, which will 
ere long fill the world with the triumph- 
ant name " Christian," upon its banner 
of victory. These are lights for particu- 



134 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT, 

lar villages and towns, meant to show 
the way to heaven. It is a sad thing 
when any Christian attempts to obscure 
their light. He will do the most for the 
world, who has his heart upon building 
up in faith, purity and love, the church 
in which God has placed him. It is his 
own church by way of eminence. There, 
his earliest spiritual life was breathed ; 
there, he must grow in grace, if he grows 
at all : there, is the pastor who pointed 
him to the Lamb of God : there, are 
the believing men and women, without 
whose tears and prayers, he might still 
be i; an alien from the Commonwealth 
of Israel/" Alas ! if he has no close 
sympathy with those, who have opened 
their hearts and hands to welcome him 
to their communion, he is a spy within 
the camp, a traitor, who gives over the 
things of God, into the hands of the enemy. 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 135 

He talks against the church, more than 
against " the world, the flesh and the 
devil." We have known families endure 
most unendurable things, before they 
would tell the world the follies and faults 
of their members. It is a wise course. 
It would be well were it imitated in 
the family of Christ. " Bear ye one 
another's burdens," was the saying of 
Paul to the Galatian church. If bearing 
them is to increase them, then the pre- 
cept is often fulfilled to the letter. Still 
there are many who fulfill the precept 
according as it was meant. They are 
peace-makers. They put the best con- 
struction, possible, upon that Christian 
conduct, which seems to them somewhat 
unchristian. They are Aarons and Hurs, 
to hold up the hands that become weary. 
The church is the apple of their eye. They 
have the noble oblivion of love in which 



136 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

offences sink and are lost forever. Happy 
church ! full of promise to the pastor 
who guides it, full of hope for " the world 
lying in wickedness :" 

" When free from envy, scorn and pride, 
Our wishes all above ; 
Each can his brother's failings hide, 
And show a brother's love." 

Emily had a marked charity in judging. 
Whenever any one was speaking unfavor- 
ably of the believers in Christ, she used 
to say, " Perhaps if we knew the cir- 
cumstances, we should feel differently." 
There is a world of wisdom in this 
saying. We know all the circumstances 
in our own failings, and so diminish 
them till they are the veriest point. 
We do not know the circumstances of 
others, and so magnify their failings, till 
they are great mountains which separate 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 137 

us from them, and seem to separate them 
from heaven. Emily always loved much the 
church, which when she was a child, gladly 
took her in. She set apart one. day in 
the week for special prayer for the church 
in Eowley, and its pastor ; and when any 
thing hindered, she took the next day for 
so loving and Christian a service. That 
church has had much of the presence 
of the Holy Ghost. How far it is con- 
nected with this special day of prayer, we 
may not say. But this we feel, that if its 
members had each the day in which they 
struggled with God for a blessing upon 
their church and pastor, the triumphs of 
that Spirit would be far more frequent and 
wide. We should be sowing and gathering 
the harvest at the same time, and the 
pastor never have occasion to say, "All 
day long I have stretched forth my hands 

unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." 
10 



138 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Natural tfjings suggesting Spiritual. 



1 If we could open and distend our eye, 
We all, like Moses, would espy- 
E'en in a bush the radiant Deity/' — Cowley. 



It is a long process through which some 
men reach God. A thousand causes 
strike their mind and satisfy their heart, 
before they find it necessary to resort to 
the great First Cause. To the Christian 
the course from the natural to the spiritual 
is brief. He is struck with the features of 
his Maker in creative things, as rapidly 
and forcibly as we are struck with the 
well-known friend, when we see his exact 
portraiture. " Their line is gone out 
through all the earth, and their words to 
the end of the world," to be the humble 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 189 

representatives of Him, of whom it is said 
" there shall no man see me and live." 

" These, as they change, Almighty Father, these 
Are but the varied God." 

We remember being with a sick friend 
upon one of the islands of the Sound. 
It was upon the edge of evening — the 
sun had left a reflection next in glory to 
itself. Nothing was heard but the lulling 
sound of the waters as they struck the 
rocks. Then we heard him saying in the 
words that seemed rich as the scene 
itself : 

" While day with farewell beam delays 
Amidst the golden clouds of even ; 
And we can almost think we gaze 
Thro' golden vistas into heaven." 

It was the weary Christian spirit, follow- 
ing on through descending day, to the 



140 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

place where "the sun goeth not down." 
The clouds were its chariot, to bear it 
up to its final resting-place. The brilliant 
drapery of evening was the emblem of 
that unquenchable brilliancy, which the 
soul shall show, when it has put off the 
flesh, and shines in the image of God. 
President Edwards says, there was to 
him, w a calm sweet cast or appearance 
of divine glory, in almost every thing. 
God's excellency, his wisdom, his purity 
and love seemed to appear in every thing ; 
in the sun, moon and stars ; in the 
clouds and blue sky ; in the grass, flow- 
ers and trees ; in the water and all nature. 
I often used to sit and view the moon 
for continuance ; and in the day spent 
much time in viewing the clouds and sky, 
to behold the sweet glory of God in these 
things ; in the meantime, singing forth 
with a low voice, my contemplations of 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 141 

the Creator and the Redeemer." This 
is the true loving spirit of the Christian. 
It is not simply the inclination towards 
God that we receive at our " second 
birth." It is also a strong inclination 
to multiply the channel ways, through 
which we go up to him. 

It is sad that we treat outward objects 
as we do. The sun lights us to our 
toil, but lights us no farther. The night 
simply rests us from the labors the day 
has brought, but becomes no memento 
of the final rest of the grave. All that 
we find in the rain, is the disappointment 
of our pleasures. The jewel serves for 
nothing but to favor our vanity, while 
we place it so that it may make us more 
attractive. Every thing that is of the earth, 
is " earthly," because we are bent upon 
making it so. To the Saviour it was dif- 
ferent. The pearl was to him but the 



142 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

reflection of the " pearl of great price." 
The small "grain of mustard seed," was 
the emblem of a faith, which seemed likely 
to be crushed at the first, but might after- 
wards grow and branch to be a shadow 
and protection. The lilies were the 
token of his Father's guardianship. The 
earthly and the heavenly, were so inter- 
locked, that it would be crossing to his 
nature to dissociate them. Ought not 
the disciple to be as his Lord ? If the 
servant that Elijah sends, knows nothing of 
what he sees, but the " little cloud out of 
the sea, like a man's hand," shall not the 
praying spirit upon the top of Carmel dis- 
cern it to be Jehovah, coming to fulfill 
His promise, that " seed-time and harvest 
shall not fail." The mind will be weighed 
down, or lifted up by its associations. Let 
it connect every thing with the earth, 
and its tendency will be more groveling. 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 143 

Let it connect every thing with God, and 
it will easily rise to His communion and 
fellowship. Children ; there is more in 
the flower, than its fragrance and beauty, 
— more in the voice of the bird, than its 
song, — more in the rain, than something 
which stops your sports. The things that 
are made, declare Him who made them. 
The things that come iy? in your every- 
day life, are wisely ordered by Him, who 
" makes the wrath of man to praise him." 
Be not as those who, " having eyes, see 
not." 

Emily looked beyond the outward. 
The journal of July 25, 1850, says : 

" Ellen had a party ; there were sixteen 
girls there. After tea, they sung. They 
have a fountain in the yard; it should 
remind us of the fountain of Christ's 
blood, that cleanseth from all sin." 

" July 27, 1850. — This morning we 



141 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

found two swallow's nests in the barn, one 
had three eggs in it, the other one. We 
should remember that as God provides 
for these birds, he will not cast us off." 

" My 30, 1850.— We visited 

this morning. She has a daughter that 
is foolish. This should make us thankful 
to God for our reason. In the afternoon 
we went into the grave-yard. It should 
remind us of our own mortality. When 
we came home it thundered and lightened 
very much. We should be very grateful 
to God for protecting us from death and 
all danger." 

" October 13, 1851. — It has been rainy 
to-day. We should be thankful to God, 
who of Almighty power deigns to protect 
us ; He sends his rain in its season, to 
fertilize the earth ; He causeth it to fall 
without distinction on the land of the 
evil and the good." 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



145 



" October 15, 1851.— This afternoon 
we went to pick chestnuts, and enjoyed 
ourselves very much. We should always 
remember, that it is God who causes the 
fruit to grow for man." 

The following is a record on the day 
of a visit to Mount Auburn — the city of 
the dead : 

" August 15, 1853. — How much better 
is the love and remembrance of friends, 
however humble their situation in life, 
than the most costly obelisk, without that 
unchanging affection. A visit to this 
cemetery should remind us, that we too 
must die, how soon we cannot tell, and 
that wealth and power cannot rob death 
of its terrors." 

These rapid passages from the natural 
to the spiritual, may seem to many, of 
slight importance. But to us, they are 
strong indexes of a mind and heart, that 



146 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

prefer God to his creatures, the heavenly 
to the earthly. It may be true, that 
" each cup of a flower is a pulpit, and 
each leaf a book, from which we may learn 
the wisdom, goodness, and power of God." 
But like some other pulpits, it utters a 
voice which is often unnoticed ; like some 
other books, its characters are frequently 
unread and unknown. He that trifles 
with the traces of God in nature and 
providence, is making the way easy to 
trifle with his traces in " Moses and the 
prophets." Better to be like Emily — 
lying upon her sick bed, who delights 
her eye with the sight of green trees, 
and looks wistfully through her window, 
to the blue heavens. They are to her 
the trees which her Saviour planted, and 
the heaven is that where the Father dwells, 
who will never forsake her. This gives 
them their highest beauty and joy. 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 147 

" How mildly on the wandering cloud, 
The sunset beam is cast ! 
'Tis like the memory left behind, 
When loved ones breathe their last. 

And now, above the dews of night 

The yellow star appears ; 
So faith springs in the heart of those, 

Whose eyes are bathed in tears. 

But soon the morning's happier light, 

Its glory shall restore : 
And eyelids that are sealed in death, 

Shall wake to close no more." 



148 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

CHAPTER X VI. 
ftt$$ttn$ibilit£. 



" Hide not thy talent in the earth, 

However small it be ; 
Its faithful use. its utmost worth, 
G-od will require of thee. 

His own which He hath lent on trust, 

He asks of thee again ; 
Little or much, the claim is just. 

And thine excuses Tain." — Cutter. 



It is an amazing thought that every man 
is held accountable to God. Parents may- 
step in and take troubles from off the 
child, but they cannot take that child's 
responsibility. He is a distinct being, 
to do all that his young mind and heart 
can do for God while he is here, and 
distinct at the judgment, to receive for 
all that he hath done. Parents have 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 149 

enough responsibility of their own ; it 
may well hang with the weight of a world 
upon them. 

Some people are surprised that the 
millennial day of the world delays so long. 
Is not God willing that it should come ? 
Certainly he is. " As I live, saith the 
Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death 
of the wicked." Is not the gospel the 
power of God unto salvation ? It is. The 
difficulty js, that men, women and chil- 
dren, do not regard themselves as." vessels 
of mercy," set apart to bear that gospel 
to those who are perishing for lack of 
it. This was the primitive idea, that a 
latent energy was a " buried talent," and 
that the man who did not bring it out 
and put it to work, was " the slothful 
servant." One of the Christian fathers 
of the second century says, " The gospel 
is spread through the whole world, in 



150 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

every town, and village, and city ; con- 
verting both whole houses and separate 
individuals." "What is the reason ? It 
is this, that every one who received the 
gospel, felt it binding upon him to carry 
it abroad, as far as his feet could go, and 
his voice be heard. There were none 
who desired to buy, or beg themselves 
off from the simple duty of persuading 
men to be reconciled to God. It is dif- 
ferent now ; you would almost think that 
the responsibility of men was limited to 
" buying, selling, and getting gain." The 
responsibility to secure the treasure of 
heaven for children, friends, neighbors and 
the world, is not practically recognized, 
deeply and widely felt. The success of 
primitive times is not to be expected, till 
the primitive spirit returns. The strongest 
ministers are weak, when those around 
them feel no responsibility to hear, prac- 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 151 

tice and spread the gospel. The apostle 
Paul was " mighty through God." But 
strike off the men and women whom he 
so affectionately mentions as laboring 
with him in the Lord, and his success- 
ful leadership in the armies of God, 
dwindles to the poor result which a man 
often finds, when he is left alone upon 
the battle-field to fight at immense odds. 
Napoleon, to be Napoleon, must have 
the young raw recruits ready for any 
thing and every thing, and the " Old 
Guard " waiting to back them up and 
push them on to complete triumph. The 
minister, to be the minister in the highest 
sense, must have a church that feel respon- 
sible to be laborers together with him. The 
Sabbath school teacher works the best, 
when the responsible home is carrying for- 
ward his teachings. This child of whom I 
have spoken, who felt that she ought to 



152 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

have one day in the week specially devoted 
to prayer for her native church, may have 
more agency in advancing it in its great 
work of saving others, than a hundred 
men and women, who regard their respon- 
sibility ended when they have taken " the 
covenant," and shared in the sacrament 
that follows. 

Sometimes the cry of fire is heard in 
our towns'; soon every house and every 
person have heard it. The reason is, that 
all who hear, feel bound to repeat the cry, 
" fire ! fire ! " The movement would be 
universal toward heaven, if every disciple 
was an Evangelist, " giving the parchment 
roll," and saying, " fly from the wrath 
to come." Some one has said, that when 
the news of peace came into New York, 
in the evening, there were a few men ran 
up into the city, crying, " peace, peace." 
Others repeated the sound, till it became 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 153 

so general, that when the morning dawned, 
every man, woman and child, knew that 
the " garments rolled in blood " were 
gone, and rejoiced that it could now be 
said " they dwelt safely, every man under 
his vine and under his fig-tree." So 
might the news of a reconciled God spread 
if men felt now as responsible as the 
angels did, when they raised their song 
upon the plains of Bethlehem, saying, "on 
earth peace, good will toward men." 

Emily felt that she had something to do. 
She used, when a child, to say that she 
dreaded being a young lady, lest the respon- 
sibility of increasing age, should not be 
met. February 12, 1853, 1 find her writing 
this : 



" Ye cannot stir one single step, 
While journeying here below, 
But what some brother takes your path 
For happiness or woe. 
11 



154 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

Unholy thoughts ye cannot think. 

Though never once expressed : 
But that some Demon plucks these thoughts. 

To fill another's breast/' 

Then she adds — c; This poetry shows us, 
that we are constantly exerting an influ- 
ence on those around us. Every thought, 
word, or action, is of great importance, 
and may influence others for good or 
evil." 

" August 31. 1852. — Mother has read 
to me the account of the woman of 
Samaria, and her conversation vrith Christ. 
TTe learn from this, that we should 
endeavor to do good as we have opportu- 
nity. 1 and in every way.'' 

This spirit continued. During her long 
illness, she was diligent in business, until 
obliged to take her bed. dailv doing some- 
thing for the benefit of others, thankfully 
improving the slightest opportunity that 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 155 

offered, saying, " It is pleasant to do good, 
even in little ways ; I would like to do 
more, but I should be thankful that I 
am able to do this." She worked while 
the day lasted ; worked in the various 
ways that she thought might benefit the 
bodies and souls of others. Have we the 
conscious responsibility, that we ought to 
be working for our Lord ? The rest of 
the Christian's death may be sweet, in 
proportion as the toils of his life have 
been severe. 



156 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



" Works do follow us all unto God; there stand and bear witness, 
Not what they seemed, — but what they were only." 

Bishop Ttgner. 



Sincerity is a virtue somewhat out of 
fashion. Language has run so much into a 
lie, that you can hardly tell what it means. 
Our plain and honest fathers, would have 
needed a new Dictionary, if they now 
lived, to tell them what signification to 
put upon the flattering and joyful phrases 
with which they might be received. It 
is a sad state of things, when you cannot 
tell what a man means, from what he says. 
Parents are grievously in fault. Home 
is not a place of honest truth. Children 
are told things as facts, which they find 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 157 

out soon to be absolute lies ; promises 
made to them, which are never fulfilled ; 
kind words said to others, which, the 
moment they are gone, are exchanged 
for very unkind expressions concerning 
them. The child who carried the invita- 
tion to a neighbor, and repeated what 
was added at home in a low tone, " I 
hope she will come and have it over," 
was a vast deal more sincere, than the 
mother, who sent a compliment which 
she hated to send. But that child's sin- 
cerity will be likely to be as the " morning 
cloud," with such a withering mother 
near it. 

Openness should be constantly shown, 
and immensely prized. Let children have 
mothers whose hearts they know, and to 
whom their own hearts are revealed, and 
let them never be punished when they come 
and tell their own faults. It is a wise 



158 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

provision of law, that when a man com- 
plains of himself, the punishment is light. 
Let children understand that beauty is not 
in the lines of the face or the form, — 
transparency is beauty. That counte- 
nance is striking, which is the outline of 
the thought — those lips, precious jewels, 
whose words are the mirror of feeling. 
Tell them that the best way to seem to 
others to be what we desire they should 
think us, is really to be so. Tell them 
that ornament will not answer in place of 
native beauty and complexion. The real 
deformity will peep out. The high 
priests that go behind the vail, will be 
likely to go more than once a year. He 
that runs may read. Therefore it is best 
for the child to be encouraged to weave 
no vail, but to stand out open and plain, 
and take his chance for success under the 
providential government of one who looks 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 159 

at the heart, and can bless its straightfor- 
ward action. 

Whose is the most beautiful character 
upon the page of Scripture ? This is a 
question which it may be hard to answer. 
Yet 1 think none can doubt that there is 
an exceedingly beautiful one, at the very 
opening of our Lord's public course. 
It is that of Nathaniel. Who could ask 
a higher praise than Christ gives him ? 
" Behold," says he, " an Israelite indeed, 
in whom is no guile." And why this 
praise ? Because under that fig-tree, this 
Israelite would not have so much as the 
thinness of the leaf, to cover his mind and 
heart from God ; because he would not 
hide himself from Philip, but says to his 
testimony of the Messiah, " Can any good 
thing come out of Nazareth ;" because, 
though he would not trust without evi- 
dence, yet he is glad to come and see 



160 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

whether there is any evidence that can 
place him right, if in saying what he 
thought agreeable to the Scripture, he 
may have said wrong. This is a rare 
character. Of vast numbers you have 
to say, as Paul said, " And the other 
Jews dissembled likewise with him, inso- 
much that Barnabas also, was carried 
away with the dissimulation." But if 
it may consist with grace to be without 
sincerity, I am sure we are not, when 
without it, in the exercise of grace. This 
is the Christian heart, that " whatever 
we do, we do it unto the Lord " who can 
see us ; and " not unto men " who can- 
not always see us. This is Christian wor- 
ship, to " worship in spirit and in truth." 
This is Christian prayer, " to draw near 
with a true heart." This is Christ- 
ian love, to "love not in word, neither 
in tongue, but in deed and in truth." 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 161 

That is Christian conversation, which is 
" in simplicity and godly sincerity, not 
with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of 
God." This is the saddest and most dan- 
gerous feature of the u old serpent," that 
he u is transformed into an angel of light." 
This is the most direful punishment of 
eternity, to have our " portion with hypo- 
crites." 

Emily was " upright." She used to 
be overheard praying for " truth in the 
inward parts." It was said of her by a 
lady, " I always felt, that what she said, 
she meant." It is known that she turned 
aside from the society she feared she could 
not trust. The journal thus speaks : 

" October 27, 1851.— I hope I shall 
study from right motives, that I may do 
good with what I know." 

" October 28, 1851. — I must pray with 
more sincerity, and not from habit." 



162 

u January 22, 1853. — I intend to be 
more obedient at school, and do nothing 
behind the teacher's back, which I would 
not do before his face. I should not only 
try to do right, but also to do so from 
right motives." 

" January 23, 1853. — In my inter- 
course with my companions at school, I 
should be willing that they should know 
that I have a hope in Christ." 

The following is at the close of a com- 
position : 

u These considerations should impress 
us with the importance of imbibing right 
principles, and steadfastly adhering to 
them, whatever may thus be sacrificed 
of ease or wordly aggrandizement. Thus 
shall we be true to ourselves, and evince 
to the world, that our professions are not 
empty sounds, but the sincere and intel- 
ligent convictions of an honest heart." 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 163 

This simplicity of youth would honor 
any manhood ; indeed, it would be one 
of manhood's highest Christian attain- 
ments. 

" Lord, search my thoughts, and try my ways, 
And make my soul sincere ; 
Then shall I stand before thy face, 
And find acceptance there." 



164 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

(Conscious £Heatass. 



11 My knowledge of that life is small, 
The eye of faith is dim ; 
But 'tis enough that Christ knows all, 
And I shall be with Him." — Baxter. 



" When I am weak, then I am strong." 
So speaks an inspired Apostle. He real- 
ized his weakness, and thus found 
strength. This may seem to be inverting 
the proper order. In the battles of life, 
courage in one's self is the nerve of effort ; 
in the struggle for eternity, distrust of 
one's self, is the great stimulant. The 
" willing spirit," is not a strength in itself, 
that balances the " weak flesh." When 
the apostle was so despairing as to cry, 
" 0, wretched man that I am, who shall 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 165 

deliver me from the body of this death ! " 
he passed easily and rapidly along, to 
thoughts of victory. For he has reached 
the place, where he sees God coming in 
to help the battle and secure the triumph. 
He can do and suffer, what is above and 
beyond himself. 

This conscious weakness must extend 
to every thing that relates to our religious 
life. There is not a prayer offered, or a 
counsel given, or a resolution formed, 
but may derive advantage from it. We 
remember Saint Bernard's complaint, 
that he was too feeble to keep his 
thoughts confined to God, while he was 
addressing him. A less experienced dis- 
ciple told him, that he knew of no such 
weakness. " Well," said the worthy saint, 
" I will give you a fine horse, if you will 
go through the Lord's prayer, and keep 
steady to its sacred subjects from begin- 



166 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

ning to end." He began, but before pass- 
ing the petition, " hallowed be thy name," 
found himself inquiring whether he should 
have saddle and bridle also. Poor human 
nature ! The saint with all his feebleness, 
would have done far better than this dis- 
ciple, so confident in the strength with 
which he could hold on to God. He 
would have gone along, doubtless, to the 
prayer, " give us this day our daily 
bread," before the earthly mind would 
have come, inquiring what sort of bread 
he was likely to get. Perhaps, when he 
has measured his weakness to the full, 
and feels it to the full, he may be able to 
reach the end, without distraction. 

"Journal, March 31, 1852.— I must 
strive to be more faithful in the per- 
formance of every duty. I must so live, 
that the Holy Spirit may dwell in my 
heart, and never forsake me. But all 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



16T 



these resolutions are useless, and worse 
than useless, unless I sincerely seek God's 
help, and the guidance of the Scriptures, 
which are able to make us wise unto 
salvation." 

" August 9, 1852 — I have been fretful 
and impatient, but hope with God's help, 
to guard against these and other sins in 
future. I hope I shall never attempt any 
thing in my own strength, but always 
remember that without Christ, I can do 
nothing. I must pray for more grace, 
and the influences of the Holy Spirit." 

" July 23, 1853.— Last night I thought 
of the verse which says, ' without me ye 
can do nothing.' I hope I shall remem- 
ber that the assistance of the Holy Spirit 
is necessary, in order that I may adorn 
the doctrine of God my Saviour, in all 
things. I am too prone to endeavor to 
do right in my own strength, without 



168 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUJT. 

depending sufficiently on the only true 
source." 

These are the sentiments which make 
a strong religious character. The sound 
of human weakness should fill the closet 
and the sanctuary. Men had better get 
off their knees before they begin to utter 
sentiments, upon their own strength, for 
their after pleading with God will be 
worthless. The inquiring sinner still 
inquires, for he has not learned yet, 
that all help from himself is out of the 
question. The converted heart goes not 
on to perfection, while it becomes forget- 
ful of the sentiment that, "no mere man, 
since the fall, is able in this life, perfectly 
to keep the commandments of God, but 
doth daily break them in thought, word 
and deed." 

Peter was on dangerous ground when 
he became self-reliant ; it sank under him 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 169 

and he was gone. His case is instructive. 
There are volumes in those words, "I see 
another law in my members, warring 
against the law of my mind, and bringing 
me into captivity to the law of sin, which 
is in my members." The law of the 
mind, is that which is approved of God, 
whose bidding we are to do. But the 
law of the members weakens the hold, 
which the law of the mind has upon us. 
It is not an excusable weakness. Every 
degree of weakness in doing the whole 
will of God, is something which is not 
to be called " a misfortune," but that 
for which we shall be held responsible 
at the " final bar." 
12 



170 



CHAPTER XIX 

(Eonfttonce in (Siotf* 



"Although the vine its fruit deny, 
The budding fig-tree droop and die, 

No oil the olive yield ; 
Yet will I trust me in my G-od, 
Tea, bend rejoicing to his rod, 
And by his grace be healed." 



We have beard of a father, who pointed a 
loaded gun at the head of a child ; his 
child lost no color, turned not away, 
moved not a muscle. " But, are you not 
afraid ? " said the father. " No," replies 
the child, " for my father holds the gun." 
It was a touching reply ; it contains the 
secret of solid joy. Adopted children 
in the family of God, have the same place 
in his care and affections, as if they had 
never been aliens. "When danger looks 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 171 

them in the face, they may calmly say, 
" My Father holds the gun." 

" Man is born unto trouble, as the 
sparks fly upward." This is one of Job's 
utterances in his sadder days. But it 
brings us the general truth, that we easily 
fall into trouble. The careful arrange- 
ments of life may diminish it, as changes 
in the wind, or atmosphere, check the 
flight of the sparks — still it must come — 
honor, treasure, outward gayety, are no 
barriers against it. The tale of the flat- 
terer tiiat had the sword suspended over 
his head by a single hair, is not an exagge- 
rated fancy of the trials of honorable life. 

We remember, a celebrated dentist, 
who told us, one day, that he really and 
sincerely wished for no more property, 
for he had enough once, and it had given 
him more trouble to take care of it, than 
all the comfort he had from it. And we 



172 THE BUD. BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

need not look long, to find that the gayest | 

of the gay. yearn often for some nobler 
object to fill the void which sinful plea- 
sures have left in the breast. The thorn 
is among our roses. The year 1857 will 
be an index to the most distant days of 
earth, that commercial changes which 
shake the strongest to their foundations, 
are not impossible. "Where is the object 
for trust : Let it be one over which you 
can say. "thou art the same." Read the 
forty-sixth Psalm. It is enough for the 
agitated heart, that " God is in the midst 
of her." 

; - Loud may the troubled ocean roar — 
In sacred peace our souls abide : 
While ev'ry nation, ev'ry shore. 
Trembles and dreads the swelling tide.*' 

Most of our troubles are anticipated ; 
they might be thrown off. if we confided 
in God. The future is His residence ; 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 173 

He fills it up with wisdom, power and 
love ; He keeps it covered, so that we 
may not know what it is to be. Yet we 
keep drawing weapons from it to pierce 
ourselves. Thus we suffer by anticipation 
and in reality also. Or, what is more 
likely, we bring a sad future into the 
present, to which there is no such real 
future to correspond. It is easy to forget 
what we do not want to remember, and 
so we forget the saying, which has no 
relish to those who live after the sight 
of their eyes, and the hearing of their 
ears, " wherefore if God so clothe the 
grass of the field, which to-day is, and 
tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He 
not much more clothe you, 0, ye of lit- 
tle faith ?" It used to be the custom with 
a people of Scythia, to celebrate the birth 
of a child with the same mournful solem- 
nities, with which the rest of the world 



174 

celebrate a funeral. This may do for 
heathens ; but it is better for Christians 
to look with this hope to God, that the 
child may know nothing of his native 
home of earth, except the fact, that he 
was there born into heaven ; or if he grows 
up to an experience of its troubles and 
sins, that it may be a victorious experi- 
ence — that he may pass through the fur- 
nace, only to shine the brighter in the 
kingdom of his Father. When the 
present is taken care of by fulfilling its 
duties, the future may well be left to 
God, who " is not slack concerning his 
promise." The reply of the Shepherd of 
Salisbury Plain, was beautiful, " It will 
be such weather as pleases me, because 
it will be such weather as pleases God, 
and whatever pleases him, always pleases 
me." " It shall be given you in that 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 175 

hour/' says the Saviour, " what ye shall 
say, and what ye shall speak." 

Emily says in her Journal, November 26, 
1852 : " Mother read to us of Abraham 
leaving his country, to go into the land 
that God showed him. He had faith ; 
he did not know even the situation of 
the land to which he was going ; he did 
not know the nature of its inhabitants ; 
he believed in God's promise. We should 
have such faith as this." And when she 
came to the sufferings of a sick hour, 
she looks up and says to the heart unto 
which she dreaded to give pain, " Mother, 
God's plans will be best ; not my will but 
thine be done." While repeating to her 
the words, 

" There is a land of pure delight," 

the mother says, " You will be there, 
and I in the wilderness," but the 



176 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

daughter quickly replies, " Mother, God 
will be in the wilderness." Again address- 
ing the mother, she says, " Shall I be 
patient to the end ? Ask God to help me. 
He will not let me be impatient, will he ?" 
" When the Son of Man cometh, shall 
he find faith on the earth ? " It is rare. 
There may be enough of that faith, which 
is but another name for sight, such as 
the weak woman had, who said that when 
the horse ran, she trusted in God till the 
harness broke, and then leaned to her 
own apprehensions. True confidence goes 
beyond the broken harness, broken hopes, 
broken health and broken life. The bow 
of hope rises amid the spray which the 
breakers make. God rides upon the 
cloud. The "Bank of Faith," is a reality, 
not the mere fancy of the author ; drafts 
upon it, not presumptuously drawn, will 
be answered. The old negro was right, 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 177 

who said to the man that reminded him 
of his corn and wheat nearly spoiled by 
the bad weather : " Yes, sir, but all will 
come right by-and-bye. The great Master 
above, he knows what is right, and he 
will do it, sure." The aged matron 
was right, when the servant of an ungodly 
family came to her, and said that she must 
give up her hope, because she could not 
say yes, to the question its members had 
tauntingly put her, u whether she was 
ready then to die and meet God in judg- 
ment." " Go back," said she, " and say to 
them, that God is now giving you the grace 
to live by, and that hereafter, when you 
need it, he will give you the grace to 
die by." Let this saying be hidden in 
the heart, " be not afraid, only believe." 
There is a victory even in death. There 
is " boldness," even in "the day of 
judgment." 



178 



CHAPTER XX. 

Jog. 



" The name of the chamber was Peace, where he slept till break 
of day, and then he awoke and sang : 

Where am I now ? Is this the love and care 
Of Jesus, for the men that pilgrims are, 
Thus to provide that I should be forgiven, 
And dwell already the next door to heaven.-' 

Bunyan. 



It is sometimes said that Christians give 
a gloomy impression of religion. They 
ought not to do it. The Saviour says, 
" He that believeth on me, out of his belly 
shall flow rivers of living water." What 
richer emblem could he have used of 
beauty, health and joy. In the Christian 
should be plenteous fountains of bliss for 
himself and others ; his face, if not so 
shining as that of Moses, should be 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 179 

equally happy. Who has occasion for 
bliss, if not the one who trusts his peace 
is made with God, who aims to make 
his life useful, and commits his time and 
eternity, to the disposal of heaven ? 

It is plain that solid joy is to be found 
on earth. Else the Bible would not say 
to Christians, " rejoice evermore." There 
is such a thing as, " passing through the 
valley of Baca," and " making it a well." 
Bunyan did not mistake in placing the 
country of Beulah on this side of the 
river of death. He would have been as 
true to Christian experience in his wonder- 
ful book, if Beulah had come in oftener 
as a tract of land, lying around the labori- 
ous and dangerous places, through which 
Christian was called to pass. But this 
happiness, though on the earth, is not of 
the earth. " He that drinketh of this 
water shall thirst again." No scene in 



180 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

life robs the heart of that pang, to which 
a consciousness of unforgiven sin, and a 
sad eternity in prospect, give rise. 

" O, happy shades to me unblest, 
Friendly to peace, but not to me ; 
How ill the scene that offers rest, 
And heart that cannot rest agree." 

I heard of a mother once saying, " she 
thought it best for children to try the 
vanities and pleasures of life, so that they 
might see how hollow and worthless they 
were, and then they would seek the joys 
of religion." It is a dangerous experi- 
ment. There is a better way. Bring 
them first the rich pleasures of religion ; 
fill them with thoughts of God. It may 
be that they will not ask to turn, to more 
narrow and less enlivening objects. In- 
struct them well in the saying of the old 
saint, " 0, sir, there are no pleasures 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 181 

worth the name, but such as bring no 
plague or penitence after them." To 
endure a disease, may be one way of free- 
ing ourselves from the sad apprehension 
of it in all the future. But a better way, 
is to keep ourselves in that bright, happy 
and pure atmosphere, which the disease is 
known to avoid. Fill up the mind with 
the truths, precepts, promises, and services 
of religion, and the outward things which 
try to come in, and spoil its bliss, will have 
no room to operate. Impenetrability will 
be found to be one of the properties of 
spirit, as well as of matter. " 0, there 
is a richness of holy joy," says a mission- 
ary, " in yielding up all to God. I 
love the mission work, and the cause of 
Christ, and the children of God more and 
more every day ; and every night I go 
to my pillow with a heart — oh ! so full 
and happy." The immortal Howard gives 



182 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

this prescription for a heavy heart, " Set 
about doing good to somebody — put on 
your hat, and go out, and visit the sick 
and the poor ; inquire into their wants, 
and administer unto them ; seek out the 
desolate and oppressed, and tell them of 
the consolations of religion. I have often 
tried this method, and have always found 
it the best medicine for a heavy heart." 
If this prescription could be followed, 
Howard -would clear the world of heavy 
hearts, as rapidly as he cleared it of 
disease. To give joy to another, is to 
feel it one's self. The widow of Nain 
was happy enough, when going back to 
the city with her revived son walking by 
her side. But more happy than she, was 
the great Deliverer, who went his way, 
conscious that he had " caused the wid- 
ow's heart to sing for joy." 

Emily did not " hew out cisterns " first, 



183 

to see whether they would be " broken," 
and such as " could hold no water." 
At seven years old, she came to " the foun- 
tain of living waters." Ever after, she 
expressed herself satisfied to the full with 
the joys which she found in God's work, 
word, and service. The coloring of the 
sky, the roar of the ocean, the shells upon 
the beach, and the wild flowers by the way- 
side were a rich joy, because they were 
the proofs of her heavenly Father's wisdom 
and goodness. When she could go out 
no longer, she would lie upon her bed so 
as to look out, and then say, " What a 
beautiful world — how lovely — I love the 
world, mother, I have enjoyed life, my 
friends, every thing." During her last 
days she frequently wished to have sung, 

" Jerusalem, my happy home." 

In the very agonies of death, she cried, 



184 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

" Can't you sing, can't you sing." Oh ! 
" The ways of wisdom are ways of pleas- 
antness." Religion is bliss even in time. 

" The Ml of Zion yields 
A thousand sacred sweets, 
Before we reach the heavenly fields, 
Or walk the golden streets." 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 185 



CHAPTER XX I. 

Regular Qebotum. 



" The closet which the saint devotes to prayer, 
Is not his temple only, hut his tower, 
Whither he runs for refuge, when attacked ; 
His armory, to which he soon retreats, 
When danger warns, his weapons to select, 
And fit them on." — Wilcox. 



By " regular," is sometimes meant " uni- 
form, constant." The constant, uniform 
devotion is that which brings us most 
rapidly into the likeness of God. The 
Pauline mode of working "in season and 
out of season," that is to say, continually, 
seems most likely to be blessed to the 
saving of men. The labors of Harlan 
Page were various and constant; though 
by trade a carpenter, yet he made religion 
his stated work; and therefore he is 



13 



186 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

able to say, " I know it is all of God's 
grace, and nothing that I have done ; 
but I think that I have had evidence, 
that more than one hundred souls have 
been converted to God, through rny own 
direct and personal instrumentality.'' Such 
results might be often witnessed, if devotion 
to God was as constant, as devotion to 
trade. It is the preaching of the way-side 
and fire-side, that does the greatest good. 
It is the untiring prayer that is seldom 
known to others, which like Jacob's, holds 
the " Angel of the Covenant," until the 
blessing is granted. We remember a 
negro woman, who used to select some 
one from each class in college, and make 
him a subject of unwearied prayer. She 
told her pastor upon her death-bed, that 
she had the happiness of seeing twenty 
of the young men, for whom she had 
thus prayed, coming out from the world, 



18T 

and eating and drinking in remembrance 
of Christ. Who is it that now preaches 
the gospel in this land, and on the islands 
of the sea ? Not simply the men them- 
selves ; but some praying spirits gone 
home to glory, to whom their early con- 
version and after-labors are to be traced. 
" Regular devotion " is generally un- 
derstood to signify prayer, praise, and 
reading of the Scriptures, at stated and 
particular periods. It is liable to be 
neglected. The world draws hard upon 
us, just as soon as it can find us up 
from our rest. We remember the old 
sound, " the stage is waiting." Yet it 
could wait, and did wait, a little 
longer than it meant to. And it was 
not every day that we heard " the 
horn," and were obliged to makj ready 
for it. But men go every da^ now to 
the places of business, a^a there is no 



I 188 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

waiting of cars. Is the morning hour 
of prayer forgotten ? Breakfast is not 
usually lost ! But how is it with com- 
munion with God ? That need not have 
been lost, had we as much ardor for 
it as for our daily food. One of the 
Chief Magistrates of a neighboring State 
became a Christian in the midst of his 
official career. When he went to the 
capitol in winter, he used to say that 
he rose at five o'clock, so that he 
might have his season of prayer and 
praise, before any one came in to dis- 
turb him with " business of State. ,? 
He found the promise. " They that seek 
me early shall find me." to have more 
than one sense. But the cares of the 
world are not merely in the State 
House, and in trade. The home is full 
of them. The morning is full of them. 
Devotion is likely to be put off, till 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 189 

we have become too weary to perform 
it. Some days it may be passed by 
altogether. But this is not necessary. 
The necessities of the family are quite 
as well provided for, when the heart 
is warm in the service of God, as 
when it has lost its "first love." Yet 
when thus warm, it no more passes by 
the natural periods of looking unto 
God, than the healthy plant passes by 
the periods proper for its nourishment 
and growth. We have heard the most 
active business men say, that their busi- 
ness did not suffer, while they attended 
to their private and public religious 
duties very carefully and often. After- 
ward, we have found them thinking 
their hurry too great to allow of their 
being at the place of evening prayer. 
Some men of intelligent and careful 
minds have estimated, that " not more 



190 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

than one-fifth of the Protestant Christians 
add any thing of perceptible importance 
to the efficiency of the church, in the 
work of the world's conversion." But 
there is a great deal which is impor- 
tant, that is not perceptible. And we 
would hope that far more than one- 
fifth have those stated pleadings with 
God, which bring the millennial day 
nearer. Yet it must be acknowledged 
that there are many, whose devotions 
are at hap-hazard, whose prayer and 
praise are very much like their Sun- 
day garments, and so will not be likely 
to be of perceptible or imperceptible im- 
portance, to the honor and progress of 
the cause of Christ. 

Take time for duties in private. It 
is better not to rob God. There is a 
Dutch proverb, " Nothing is got by 
thieving, or lost by praying." An hour's 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 191 

communion with God might save us 
from the foolish arrangements, to which 
the day, governed by a mere earthly 
wisdom, would be likely to give rise. 
It is manifest that no man can keep 
up his stock in trade as a Christian, 
without repairing regularly to the Bible 
and the throne. He will make no 
spiritual gains for himself and others, 
unless he does it. His tarrying long is 
not of so much importance, as his going 
statedly and frequently. " I believe," says 
the Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, " there 
is no day for the last thirty years, that 
I have not peeped at my Bible. If we 
can't find time to read a chapter, I 
defy any man to say he can't find time 
to read a verse ; and a single text, 
sir, well followed and put in practice 
every day, would make no bad figure 
at the year's end ; three hundred and 



192 

sixty-five texts without the loss of a 
moment's time, would make a pretty 
stock, a little golden treasure." The 
Psalmist says, " Evening and morning, 
and at noon will I pray." Of Daniel 
it is said, " He kneeled upon his knees 
three times a-day, and prayed, and 
gave thanks before his God, as he did 
aforetime." 

Pious children take the Bible, simply ; 
they do not run after the follies and 
faults, into which the men of Scripture 
have sadly fallen, for their warm Christ- 
ian nature shrinks from them, and God 
condemns them. But whatever seems 
like virtue, they attach themselves to, 
easily and rapidly. Hence Emily is 
early found copying the periods of de- 
votion, which David and Daniel had. At 
eight years old, she was asked by a 
person, how often she prayed, She 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 193 

replied, "I pray always morning, noon, 
and night, and when there is no bless- 
ing asked at the table, I pray to myself 
before I eat, and before I go out," 
(meaning to call or visit,) "I always 
pray." 

A lady in Marlboro' came to carry 
the children to ride. The mother went 
up stairs, and found Emily crying. 
Upon asking the reason, she said, 

"I shall not have time to pray, and 
I had rather not go to ride." 

It was the struggle of childish nature, 
with the grace which a child may 
have. The struggle ceased by both 
being gratified. The lady waited, the 
prayer was offered, the child was happy in 
God, and in the children that her warm 
heart loved. She has reached the place 
now, where flesh and spirit no longer 
contend, where earth ceases to draw 



194 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

from the duty to which heaven invites. 
Devotion is not there limited to periods ; 
and " They shall continually behold his 
face, and serve him, day and night, in 
his temple." 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 195 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Z\]z Sabbatfj— Oje 3SiWe. 



1 Sabbaths, like way-marks, cheer the pilgrim ? s path, 
His progress mark, and keep his rest in view." — ~\Yilcox. 



' A glory gilds the sacred page, 
Majestic like the sun ; 
It gives a light to every age, 
It gives — but borrows none." — Cowper. 



There is a small island within the 
entrance of Plymouth Harbor, called 
Clark's Island. It should be to a 
Christian people, quite as interesting, as 
the rock on which the Pilgrims first 
trod ; for that was the spot upon which 
Carver, Bradford, Winslow, Standish, 
and others tarried, to keep the Lord's 
day. They had been sent out to ex- 
plore ; the captain had signified his 



196 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

impatience ; the company they had left 
were anxious for their return ; many 
things demanded haste ; but it was the 
Lord's day, and they kept it sacredly. 
Not till the next morning did they 
attempt to land upon the rock, which 
a grateful posterity has marked. We 
wish the small island had been called 
"Sabbath Isle." 

The Puritans have been thought too 
careful ; but their care for the Sabbath 
did not injure them. Never was a colony 
more intelligent, industrious and virtuous, 
than that of Plymouth. To talk of being 
too cautious of neglecting God's com- 
mands, is very much like talking of being 
too careful not to treat lightly a known 
preservative from disease and death. The 
Pilgrims had none of the Jewish follies 
upon the Sabbath. They went to their 
rough temples with their arms in their 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 197 

hands, to defend themselves if neces- 
sary. They gladly healed on the Sab- 
bath day. But they never stretched 
their works of necessity and mercy, to 
cover every thing to which a worldly 
heart might prompt. People that have 
done this have suffered. The nations of 
Western Europe in losing their Sab- 
bath, lost their social order and free- 
dom. Criminals have confessed often, 
that their first step in crime, was turn- 
ing the Sabbath to worldly pursuits. 

Children should be taught that the 
Sabbath is one of their highest blessings. 
There must be a striking distinction made 
at home between this and other days. 
The books of study and mere amuse- 
ment, must be laid upon the shelf, and 
the playthings returned to the box, or 
the quiet corner ; the toil of home must 
be brought into a narrow compass. 



198 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

Every thing should be made to indicate 
bodily rest and Christian action. Chil- 
dren will see and feel the heavenly 
spirit, which breathes and lives in their 
home, and is manifest in the temple of 
God, to which they should early and 
statedly be taken. Fear not to disgust 
them with the Sabbath, by too marked a 
separation of it from the world. The 
great danger is, that you will weaken all 
hold that the Sabbath has, by your loose 
ideas concerning it. Strengthen in their 
early minds, .the idea of Lord Chief Justice 
Hale, often quoted, but seldom deeply 
felt, " I have found that a due observ- 
ing of the Lord's day, has ever joined to 
it a blessing upon the rest of my time, 
and the week that has been so begun, 
has been blessed and prospered to me ; 
and on the other hand, when I have been 
negligent of the duties of the day, the 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 199 

rest of the week has been unsuccessful 
and unhappy to rny secular employ- 
ment." Let the memory of this day in 
all the future be this, 

" The sire turns o'er wi' patriarchal grace, 

The big ha'-Bible, ance his father's pride ; 
He wales a portion with judicious care, 
And ' let us worship God ! ' he says with solemn air." 

The Bible ! The papists may burn it ; 
but it is for us to hide its truths in our 
hearts, so that they may be firm in life's 
temptations, and amid the scrutinies of the 
judgment. Give it to the child — bid him 
carry it to his chamber and his school- 
room. Let his soul be taken from the 
places, where the leaves of the Bible do 
not bear along the fresh air of truth, as 
you would take his body from the spot 
where there is no atmosphere, but such 
as has lost its oxygen. Think as soon to 



200 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

shut the body away from all the light of 
the sun, as the soul from that invigora- 
ting life, which the clear word of God 
doth give. Mother, let the Bible be the 
earliest gift to your child ; let it be the 
latest too, that it may be embalmed 
with the most precious memories of life 
and death. The soldier of Cromwell 
carried his Bible in his vest ; the ball 
of his enemy, penetrated the cover, and 
struggled along to some saying like this, 
" Thy word have I hid in my heart." 
It could go no farther; the seat of life 
was safe, for it was covered. It is a 
happy illustration of the complete pro- 
tection of the soul, when it is amid the 
"fiery darts of the devil," that are hurl- 
ing far and wide. The miner's boy fell, 
with his father but little distance off, 
when one of the layers of coal fell. 
"Has your light gone out?" cried the 



THE BUD, BL03S03I AND FRUIT. 201 

agitated father. " Yes, father, the light 
that I kindled, but not God's light — 
4 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and 
a light unto my path.' " 

Happy boy! No matter if he does 
not see again the light, which his poor 
taper gives, or the brighter light of the 
sun ; he has a lamp which guides him 
through the valley of death, to the place 
where " the sun no more goeth down." 
Tell the children, with Newton, "we 
account the Scriptures of God the most 
sublime philosophy ;" with Milton, " there 
are no songs to be compared with the 
songs of Zion;" with Selden, "there is no 
book in the universe upon which we 
can rest our souls in a dying moment, 
but the Bible." 

Emily was quite concerned to keep 
the Sabbath holy. Scattered along her 
journals, I find sayings, which show that 

14 



202 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

her Saturdays were looking forward to 
her Sabbaths, as days to be remembered, 
and kept separate from the world. On 
awaking Sabbath morning, she was fre- 
quently heard repeating the Psalm, 

(i Sweet is the work my God, my King, 
To praise thy name, give thanks and sing." 

" Journal, November 17, 1850. — It was 
so rainy we could not attend meeting 
all day. I read in the Bible a good 
deal ; in the evening we recited in the 
Bible and Catechism ; I fear I have 
broken the Sabbath, and not kept it holy 
as I ought. I must be more patient, kind, 
and obedient to all." 

" June 12, 1853. — My attention has been 
too much occupied with worldly objects 
to-day ; I have thought and spoken of 
them too much ; I hope I shall remem- 
ber the Sabbath day to keep it holy, and 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 203 

endeavor, by the assistance of the Holy 
Spirit, to love God more, and serve him 
better ,than I have ever done before." 

The interest of Emily in the Bible, 
was very strong ; she used frequently to 
select some great truth, and repeat the 
passages that confirmed it. She would 
often speak with great satisfaction of 
God, as being just such a Being as the 
Bible represents. The atonement of 
Christ, one of her earliest themes of 
thought, was found to be as permanent 
as early, becoming more and more sweet, 
as the end approached. 

"Journal, May 20, 1855. — I was pre- 
vented from attending Sabbath school 
and church this afternoon, by the rain. 
Lizzie has been reading to me in Cheever's 
Lectures on the Pilgrim's Progress. 
Among other things, Bunyan's study of 
the Bible is especially noticed. It should 



204 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

be a lesson to us to value and obey the 
precepts of this precious book, which is 
able to make us wise unto salvation." 
Oh ! that the children of this land would 
prize their highest birth-right, the Sab- 
bath, and the Bible. It cost their fathers 
many agonies to secure it. The Sabbath- 
assemblies of our distant ancestry were 
broken in upon, and their peace and life 
threatened, unless they gave over the 
sacred day to folly and amusement ; 
they resisted the temptation, and the 
Sabbath is redeemed to us, so that we 
may safely suspend our toil, cease 
our mirth, and mingle joyfully our 
worship. Some of them were obliged 
to roll up their hair in the leaves of 
the Bible, and screened beneath some 
bush, unroll and read, and then cover, 
as before, the precious treasure. But 
for us, the Bible lies unharmed in our 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 205 



dwellings and sanctuaries, in the public 
places of our land, and the vessels of 
our seas and rivers, and without fear, 
we may read it. If the children make 
it their pillar of cloud by day, and pillar 
of fire by night, they will find their way 
to the security and freedom their fathers 
contemplated. 



206 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



CHAPTER XXIII 
(Sftatttttta, 



11 May I remember that to thee, 

Whate'er I have I owe ; 
And back in gratitude from me 
May all thy bounties flow. — RyWs Coll. 



The Bible says, " The goodness of God 
leadeth thee to repentance." It cannot 
mean actual leading, but only the tend- 
ency there is to lead us away from 
every thing offensive to the great Being, 
who has shown us so much love. Great 
masses of men are never softened in 
their feelings toward Him, though sur- 
rounded by warming, melting objects 
from his hand. But the tendency, and 
natural effect of his good gifts remain 
ever the same. The sun's ray is fitted 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 207 

to melt, even though the ice-mountains 
of the North, do not melt and run down 
like water. The attraction of the earth 
has not lost its native power to draw 
to itself, even though the iron rises to 
meet the magnet held above it. God's 
goodness is not of such a nature, that 
it can be in fault, for man's unthank- 
ful disregard of it. " Because he first 
loved us," is the reason given by John 
and his disciples, why they " loved 
God." It is a reason quite suitable for 
thankful, loving emotion, from all the 
race. 

" My cup runneth over," said the good 
man, who was kept in his boyhood from 
the lion and the bear — in his manhood, 
from the more ravenous spirit of Saul. 
He had troubles enough, but the mer- 
cies so rapidly outran them, that he 
felt this to be the sum of his history, 



208 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

" goodness and mercy shall follow me all 
the days of my life.'' Many do not feel 
as he did, and think if their cup run- 
neth over, it must be from the troubled, 
rising fountain of woe, at the bottom. 
The reason is, they are not looking the 
right way; they are considering what 
others have gained, which they have not, 
and not what they possess, which they 
were liable to lose. 

Nothing can be more just, than the 
reflections which DeFoe gives his Crusoe. 
while he walks, meditating upon his deso- 
late condition, as the lone inhabitant of 
an un visited isle. 

" Well, you are in a desolate condition. 
it is true : but pray, remember where are 
the rest of you ? Did not you come, 
eleven of you, into the boat ? Where 
are the ten ? Why were they not saved. 
and you lost ? Why were you singled out ? 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 209 

Is it better to be here, or there ? And 
then I pointed to the sea. All evils are 
to be considered, with the good that is 
in them, and with what worse attended 
them." 

Ah, here is the secret of true thank- 
fulness. The Christian view is to look 
back to the sea. True, many a comfort 
may be swept away ; but think what 
the wave has spared ; think how many 
have lost health, property, friends, and life, 
as it rolled along. There is one balance, 
which men know little of. It is that 
which weighs the good they have, against 
the evil to which they are liable, and 
which others experience. There is one 
Ledger, which they will never keep 
booked up ; it is that where their com- 
forts are arranged on one side, like so 
many debts which they are liable to 
lose, but which now are reliable ; and 



210 THE BUD. BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

their miseries on the other, which, like 
the credit page, in days like these, will 
often be found to have but very little 
to mark it. Cannot they see a sadder 
result, than that to which they have 
come ? And if so, may not every tear 
be dried, as they look to the smaller 
woes under which they suffer. TTe 
remember the good lady, who always 
said, when the news of disaster came. 
" How much worse it might have been/' 
But when her pastor was called to tell 
her, that her own daughter had died by 
the hand of her husband, neither he nor 
the friends could imagine any deep, to 
which she could point, lower than that- 
then opened. Yet there was one. Grate- 
fully, she looked up, and said, u How 
much worse it would have been, if my 
daughter had murdered her husband/' 
This may be above human nature, but 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 211 

it is not above Christian nature. For 
Christian nature knoweth that there are 
more than " seven vials of woe," that 
are able to be opened at the great 
Creator's bidding. It knows that ages 
and numbers cannot exhaust them. It 
beholds them opening upon others oftener 
than upon its own head. It has an 
eye which magnifies mercies, and renders 
sorrows microscopically small. Beauti- 
ful, was the saying of the daughter of 
the poor shepherd, " Father, I wish I 
was big enough to say grace, I am sure 
I should say it very heartily to day, for 
I was thinking what must poor people 
do who have no salt to their potatoes ; 
and do but look, our dish is full." This 
is worthy of an old saint. The Saviour 
would, doubtless, say over it, " Out of 
the mouths of babes and sucklings thou 
hast perfected praise." Eev. Dr. Proud- 



212 

fit used to say, that one of the best ser- 
mons for him, was preached by a woman 
in the alms-house, Xewburyport. He 
began to console her amid her losses ; 
but she broke the consolation, by her 
expressions of joy, " 0, sir, what a blessing- 
it is, that there are such places as these. 
Only see how many comforts I have. 
Every thing is done for me, so that I 
can ask no more." 

If there is nothing else to stir our thank- 
fulness, I am sure there is one thing. 
It is this, " He hath not dealt with us 
after our sins ; nor rewarded us accord- 
ing to our iniquities." The retrospect 
of life shows us, that we do not begin 
to suffer, what we deserve. The suffer- 
ings that we might expect have been 
taken from off us, and laid upon the 
head of one, who had no sin of his own 
to require them. The deserving escape, 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 213 

but he " suffers the just for the unjust." 
" Thanks be to God for his unspeakable 
gift." We are not like the rich man, 
lifting up our eyes, being in torments. 
Yet, like him, we have had our good 
things here, for which we have never 
been proportionably thankful, and which 
we are not always ready liberally to 
dispense. 

Emily says, " September Icth, 1850, 
it is eleven years to-day since father's 
death. Thus far the Lord hath led us 
on, and provided for us. Oh ! how grate- 
ful we should be to Him ; we should 
long to have him for our heavenly Father, 
and so live as to be prepared to meet 
Him." 

" August 12, 1851. — I have had many 
tilings to be thankful for. God has 
spared my life and given me food to 
eat, and clothes to wear, and kind friends, 



214 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

and many pleasures. He has given me 
time, health, reason, and the privilege of 
prayer. Yet I have sinned in proportion 
to my mercies." 

She has a true idea of that gratitude, 
which is more than words, more than mere 
feeling. On the day that she was eleven 
years old, she writes, 

" The best way to show my gratitude 
is to lead others on to heaven, to labor 
to bring others into His kingdom." 

The winter of 1857 and '58, will be 
marked in our history, as one of great 
embarrassment in all departments of busi- 
ness. Manufactories have been closed, 
ships hauled into the docks, clerks in 
great numbers discharged, debts very 
universally unpaid, and thousands and 
tens of thousands, cut off from their usual 
way of finding bread. Yet there appears 
to have been less suffering, than has 



y 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 215 

been known for many past winters. 
What is the reason ? He " who knows 
the end from the beginning," has ordered 
a winter as peculiar in climate, as diffi- 
cult for toil that was likely to be 
rewarded. An air as soft as that of 
spring, has been generally breathing 
over the land. Severe cold and block- 
ing storms, have been almost unknown. 
There has been little need of consum- 
ing the bundle of sticks, which poverty 
had gathered; little occasion to draw too 
heavily upon the " cruse of oil," and 
" the handful of meal," left from the 
wastes of the past. Sabbaths have been 
bright and beautiful, so that the most 
distant people could come to the house 
of God. How wonderful ! What praise 
shall be sufficient ! Especially, how shall 
the praise be adequate to the fact that 
the absence of the treasures of earth 



216 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

lias turned so much the attention to 
the treasure that is in heaven. Is 
the grateful song in heaven, over con- 
verted sinners, to be the only song in 
the universe, which is to celebrate this 
"■ year of the right hand of the Most 
High ?" Who, who is thinking of order- 
ing his thoughts, feelings, words, and 
works, so that they may harmoniously 
and gratefully respond to the wonders 
of the season? Let others trace its mild- 
ness to what they please, but we will 
humbly think of Him, who " stayeth his 
rough wind in the day of his east wind." 
Let others theorize upon the bend of the 
Gulf Stream, nearer to the land, or with 
another philosopher, upon the abundance 
of the rain of summer and autumn, but 
we will go beyond them to Him whose 
hand " turneth the rivers of waters," 
who is the " Father of the rain " and 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 217 

hath " begotten the drops of dew." Let 
Him have thanksgiving. A sweeter music 
than the "pipes at Lucknow " played, 
does this kindly season demand from all, 
who remember and hear of it. 

But life will not always be kept along. 
It must sink away, before some accident 
or disease. No matter, if it has been a 
thankful life. Eternity takes its color- 
ing from time. The thankless soul must 
starve yonder, if not here ; its pleas can- 
not bring it even a drop of water. But 
for truly grateful hearts, there remaineth 
a song which happily continues the 
thanksgivings of time. Parents, chil- 
dren, trust Jesus, and you shall join it. 

" Through every period of my life, 
Thy goodness I'll pursue ; 
And after death in distant worlds, 
The glorious theme renew. 

15 



218 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

When nature fails, and day and night, 
Divide thy works no more, 

My ever grateful heart, O, Lord, 
Thy mercy shall adore. 

Through all eternity, to Thee, 

A joyful song I'll raise : 
For oh ! eternity's too short, 

To utter all thy praise." 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 219 



CHAPTER XXIV 

SScnebolcnce. 



M The heart that feels for other's woes, 

Will find its selfish sorrows less ; 
The soul that happiness bestows, 
Reflected happiness will bless." — Jane Taylor. 



It is the description of Jesus, that he 
" went about doing good." His disciples 
sometimes think that they fulfill their 
mission, if they respond to objects of 
charity brought to their door. It is a 
mistake. They are to search for ways 
in which their love and treasure may 
go out to bless the w r orld. It is not a 
very high virtue, simply to be willing, 
when a great object is pressed earnestly, 
although even to this shadow of virtue, 
many do not attain. It would have fared 



220 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT.* 

hard with us, if the Lord Jesus had 
waited to be applied to, and earnestly 
entreated, before he descended to this 
world, whose poor would not be likely 
to come to him to be enriched, whose 
sinful, had no heart to seek him to be 
forgiven. " When we were enemies, we 
were reconciled to God, by the death of 
his Son." 

True benevolence passes by one's self. 
Self is the great barrier to our labors 
for men, our approaches unto God. Xot 
indeed, if viewed rightly ; but when 
viewed as our weakness and wickedness 
prompt. There is a self-love which is 
proper, else it would never have been given, 
as the rule by which to measure our love 
to our neighbor. But when it is out of 
all proportion to our worth, in the scale 
of being, then it degrades us. The man, 
whose main object seems to be, to keep 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 221 

himself from trouble and want, is a sorry 
spectacle to heaven. The family love is 
higher. But that love of a mother for 
her boy, so touching and beautiful, is not 
the noblest exercise of her affection. 
It is when we go beyond self and family, 
when the children of men begin to seem to 
us like a second self, and another family, 
that we make a more than usual approach 
to Him, who " causes his sun to rise 
upon the evil and the good," and cher- 
ish the emotion to which humanity must 
be indebted for its rise from sorrow and 
sin. The sphere of human kindness must 
be widened, to be just. 

And if we widen it here, to its proper 
proportions, it will keep widening, when 
new beings and new worlds rise to view 
in eternity ; where every thing must 
seem but a faint shadow of love, which 
does not embrace the whole universe of 



222 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

God. The apostle to the Gentiles said, 
" For I could wish that myself were 
accursed from Christ, for my brethren, 
my kinsmen, according to the flesh." 
This is burning love. It is a .monstrous 
perversion to talk over this passage of a 
Christian, deliberately choosing a Christ- 
less state. It is only love seizing upon 
the most glowing language possible, to 
express itself; it is love that forgets its 
own time and eternity, in ardent thought 
for the time and eternity of others. 

We have heard of the cabin boy, who 
was praying between decks, for his wicked 
blasphemous captain. He was overheard 
to say, " Bless, Lord, my poor captain, 
and if thou hast no blessing left, then 
take my blessing from me, and give it 
to him." It was the utmost he could 
say, the utmost he could do. It was 
benevolence in the highest possible feel- 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 223 

ing and expression. It was earth brought 
nigh to heaven. It is the disciple, com- 
ing very near the master, who counted 
the glory of heaven but little, when by 
laying it aside, he could raise fallen man 
to share it. 

We remember a visit to Emily's dwell- 
ing, when she was but eight years old. 
She brought a dollar, and said, she wished 
to give it to some good object, as a thank- 
offering, for her recovery from sickness. 
It was her own money, the gathering of 
many days ; it was her own suggestion, 
uninfluenced by parent or friend. Being 
her all, it ranks by the side of the widow's 
offering, so acceptable to Christ. We 
remember, also, the answer she made to 
the description of some lady, whose beauty 
was praised, but with this sad qualifica- 
tion, that she did nothing for others. 
It was this, that " she could have no 



224 THE BUD. BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

idea of a person being beautiful, who was 
not doing good." This was just. The 
real charm of a person is character. 
The true beauty of life, is - ; its going 

about doing good." 

" Journal^ June 5. 1853. — We should 
be rejoiced when we hear that Christ's 
kingdom is advancing, in any part of 
the world. I hope that I- shall esteem it 
a precious privilege, whenever I am per- 
mitted to give any thing, however little 
it may be, towards any benevolent object. 
Our time, our talents, our friends, are 
all lent to us by Goii. and should be em- 
ployed in his service. 

As she heard of sick and afflicted ones, 
she was accustomed to ask. u Mother, 
can't we do something for them ? well. 
we must pray for them." 

The last record. June 23, 1857. says. 
i; I hope I may he enabled to do some 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



225 



* little good here, although debarred from 
active service, which I long to re-enter 
in God's good time." 

One of her last efforts was to sit up 
in bed, and assort the fruits which were 
sent her, that they might be carried out 
to those, whose taste like her own, had 
been enfeebled by long sickness, and could 
be revived only by a peculiar and unex- 
pected dainty. One of her latest joys 
seemed to be, that she had suffered simi- 
larly to some invalid of whom she had 
just heard, and so could more truly sym- 
pathize with, and more gladly relieve 
her sorrows. We seem to hear the voice 
saying to her, now.no more sick, " Inas- 
much as ye have done it unto one of the 
least of these my brethren, ye have done 
it unto me." 



226 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

(grofotfj in (Grace. 



" I asked the Lord that I might grow 
In faith, and love, and every grace ; 

Might more of His salvation know, 

And seek more earnestly His face. — Newton. 



The seed when put into the ground will 
start, and grow, if it has life. So it is 
with the seed of grace. Placing it in 
the heart, does not destroy it, though it 
does not there find the most friendly 
soil. Plants that deserve the name, keep 
growing. So it is with the plants in the 
garden of God. They flourish ; they are 
striking those roots deeper upon which 
their life depends, and becoming stronger 
to bear up against the heavier blasts. 
The law of animal life is to grow. The 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 227 

same is the law, for the babe in Christ. 
He is to reach the stature of a perfect 
man. Faith may be at the first, " as a 
grain of mustard seed." But it may 
spread out into graces beautiful and 
wide, as the branches of a tree, whose 
seed is very small. The apostle knew 
the great law of the Christian life, when 
he gave the precept which assists us to 
fulfill it, " add to your faith, virtue ; and 
to virtue, knowledge ; and to knowledge, 
temperance ; and to temperance, patience ; 
and to patience, godliness ; and to godli- 
ness, brotherly-kindness ; and to brotherly- 
kindness, charity." These things are to 
follow upon our faith as their germina- 
ting principle, like branches, leaves, and 
flowers, upon the breaking seed. If feeble 
and small at the first, as the faith from 
which they spring, they are not to con- 
tinue thus, if really alive. 



228 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

Sometimes people say they do not see 

piety growing, where they supposed it 
to exist. Perhaps their idea of its exist- 
ence was false. There are many plants 
which our heavenly Father never planted. 
They will only disfigure the garden of 
God, till the period comes when he will 
root them up. The best way is to take 
the Bible description of the Christian 
life. The Bible declares that the true 
faith is that which ; * worketh by love,'" 
and purifies the heart. The faith that is 
without works is dead, in God's eye. 
u The path of the just, is as the shin- 
ing light that shineth more and more 
unto the perfect day." Advancing day. 
is the emblem of a true disciple. And 
when any one ceases to advance, when 
he is but a dwarf in his virtues, after 
there has been time for him to grow, he 
should either be considered as not trulv 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 229 

a disciple, or else but a specimen in the 
spiritual world, of what God so strangely 
and unfrequently gives us in the natural ; 
a child that goes not beyond the childish 
stature, sickly, uncomfortable to himself 
if sensitive, and always a care and anxiety 
to others. Healthy, happy piety is grow- 
ing. To be comfortable to ourselves, and 
useful to others, in our pilgrimage to 
heaven, we must be thriving. 

Trees mark their progress. The thin 
layers may be separated, so that you can 
tell the years of their life. It is a very 
nice dissecting knife, and a keen eye 
that are wanted, if you reach an accurate 
result. So in the case of those new lay- 
ers of heavenly love, and new shoots of 
hope and joy, which mark the Christian's 
growth. His own eye may not be keen 
enough. When he looks, the evidence 
is not so clear as he expected. He had 



230 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

better call in Him, who looketh through 
the soul, saying, " Search me, 0, God, 
and know niy heart, try me and know 
my thoughts." It would be well for 
him to understand what spiritual progress 
is : To distrust one's own wisdom and 
strength, to be emptied of all self-depend- 
ence, to realize deeply, that we cannot 
even think a good thought without God, 
to feel more and more reliance upon the 
grace which is in Christ Jesus, may 
make us think that we are not advanc- 
ing to heaven, when really they are very 
great stages in our progress. There is 
a sight of " men as trees walking." But 
when sight increases, objects multiply, 
and become more distinct. Advancing 
Christians see more fully the evils of the 
heart, from which, they would be rid, and 
the features of Christ which they would 
transfer to themselves. The forest may 



231 

be really clearing, though your wide 
circle of fallen trees makes you see a 
thicket, of which before you were not 
aware. I have heard of common men, 
deeming their paintings wonderful, and 
not needful of correction, while all along 
the works of some great artist are seen 
shapes that had begun to grow into life, 
but are marked for erasure, because they 
do not seem as beautiful as they ought. 
If the spiritual mind were less clear 
and bright, the conformity to Christ 
might seem more rapid ; but as it bright- 
ens, and catches more of the light of 
heaven, the pollution that is left seems 
greater than the whole mass did, before 
it began to be lessened. Astonished, 
many men well may be, that they are 
no better ; yet, instead of considering 
their clearer view of their infirmities as 
a proof that they are going back, they 



232 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

should rather regard themselves as a 
striking comment upon the words of the 
apostle, " Not as though I had already 
attained, either were already perfect ; 
but I follow after, if that I may appre- 
hend that for which also I am appre- 
hended of Christ Jesus." 

There are signals of progress which 
may be understood. It is progress when 
the same sort of solemnity and interest 
is shown in the simple prayer-meeting, 
the daily Christian counsel, the life that 
is free from the appearance of evil, the 
heart that shrinks from secret sins, that 
appeared at the first in the Sabbath 
day, and the communion season. It is 
progress when we watch more against 
temptation, and are more zealous to 
destroy easily besetting sins, when our 
desires toward God are more frequent, 
when we more willingly defer to the wishes 



THE BUD. BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



233 



of our brethren, and more rapidly over- 
leap every barrier of sect and denomi- 
nation, to embrace the feeblest believer 
it may hide. It is progress, when we 
become more earnest for the salvation of 
the soul, more weaned from the world, 
more single-eyed to the glory of God 
in business and pleasure. When these 
things are visible, we may feel that we 
are gaining ; they will be occasionally 
seen, if they exist, and may be looked 
upon as the glad and familiar lights, 
which indicate that we are Hearing our 
God and home. 

It is struggle that promises advance. 
The world, the flesh, and the devil, will 
work against us ; but the stronger the 
opposition, the mightier must be the 
toil. " Cast thy bread upon the waters," 
if you expect to grow by the bread of 
life. He that scatters does increase. 

16 



234 

Deny yourself, for in keeping earth 
under, heaven will be found to rise ; 
trust not to sweeping resolutions ; aim 
the deadly blow at single sins ; strike 
at individual frailties, till they are gone. 
Trees die sometimes, by cutting off branch 
after branch, down to the root. The great 
point is to clear the soul of the upas 
growth of sin. Cry for the help of the 
Holy Ghost ; go to the word of God ; 
leave the swarms of printed matter, for 
the olden books of Baxter, Bun van, and 
Doddridge, beneath whose leaves lies the 
choice honey, which has been extracted 
from the word of God. Look unto Jesus. 
Soon your cry will be, ;i I am crucified 
with Christ, nevertheless I live ; yet, not 
I, but Christ liveth in me. 5 ' 

It is easy to see that Emily's Christian 
life is growing. There is an increasing 
impatience with her infirmities, a more 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



235 



abiding trust that she shall have the 
victory. The successive paths of duty 
when made known, are gladly entered, 
and the sad features of the heart when 
revealed, are most faithfully mourned 
over, The self-consecration to God, of 
her later years, is remembered by all 
who saw her life, or read her journals. 
The last record is that of -unaffected 
humility, making ready to cast the crown 
before the throne of God : 

" June 28, 1857. — I am frequently 
reminded of my own weakness, by my 
numerous short-comings. Would that 
I could see the work of grace progress- 
ing more rapidly in my heart, but, alas, 
too often evil gains the mastery, giving 
me work for repentance. I find that I 
enjoy and value my religious blessings 
more highly, from being deprived of them, 
for so long a time. I have not sufficient 



23b THE BUD. BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

charity for others* failings, forgetting the 
long-suffering of God to me, although 
he is of purer eyes than to behold ini- 
quity. To think of this, will render me 
more lenient to others* faults, that I may, 
in some feeble measure, imitate the 
example of the Saviour. I hope that I 
may be able to do some little good." 

Most children will have a longer period 
in which to grow in grace, than Emily, 
if they begin as early as she did. Years 
will be adding fresh stores to their knowl- 
edge and love of Christ. Their youth- 
ful fervor will follow them into manhood 
and age, and make their attainments in 
piety very great : then, when they find 
themselves, or are felt by others, and 
seen by God, to be a shock of corn fully 
ripe, or some autumnal fruit that has 
perfected its sweetness and beauty, they 
will rejoice that the life which began 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 237 

with God, is only closed that they may 
be gathered into Heaven. There, amid 
the depths of the nature of the ever 
" unknown God," they shall grow in 
knowledge and joy forever. 



238 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

(£riump{j tit Beatfr. 



" Just such is the Christian ; his course he begins 
Like the sun in a mist, when he mourns for his sins, 
And melts into tears ; then he breaks out and shines 
And travels his heavenly waf : 

But when he comes nearer to finish his race, 
Like a fine setting sun, he looks richer in grace, 
And gives a sure hope at the end of his days, 
Of rising in brighter array." — Watts. 



Death is the last enemy ; it is most fear- 
ful in many of its aspects. This " wheel 
broken at the cistern," and " silver cord 
loosed," startle us. This severing of ties, 
this withering of friendship, this going 
down alone into the valley, when we have 
never before been alone in trouble, is inex- 
pressibly saddening. Sad is it to give up 
to the feeding of worms, what we have so 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 239 

long carefully fed and adorned ; solemn 
to enter the future, of whose secrets, 
none have come back to tell us. Add to 
this, the apprehension, however slight, 
which will be likely sometimes to come 
over us, that the " second death " treads 
in the footsteps of the first, and that the 
fall of the body is but the fall of the 
chains from the prisoner, whose hour of 
execution has come. Death thus viewed is 
too much for nature. Nature may indeed 
forget its true accompaniments and be 
steadfast, as it does amid the strife of 
battle, and the hazard of a storm. But 
death deliberately viewed, overcomes 
nature, and is too much, even for the 
ordinary grace which a true Christian 
enjoys. It cannot be anticipated but a 
very little, without shrinking. " The 
pilgrims then, especially Christian, began 
to despond in his mind and looked this 



240 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

way and that, but no way could be 
found by them, by which they might 
escape the river." The apostle could 
say, at the last, " I am now ready to be 
offered." But his previous and usual 
strain was, " Not for that we would be 
unclothed, but clothed upon." 

True Christians have peace, when the 
hour of death comes. The fearfulness 
with which they have viewed it, does not 
continue, when brought into its very 
presence. "Then they both took courage, 
and the enemy was, after that, as still as 
a stone, until they were gone over. 
Christian, therefore, presently found 
ground to stand upon, and so it followed 
that the rest of the river was but shal- 
low." But triumph is not the lot of all 
disciples ; it is that species of " abundant 
entrance," which is reserved for those 
who are uncommonly faithful. Counter- 



241 

feit triumphs are abundant. We have 
reason to fear the triumph, which follows 
a doubtful life. We had much rather 
hear from the dying beds of many, 

" Shew pity Lord, O, Lord, forgive," 
than the saying, 

" Ready now to spread my pinions, 
Glad to wing my flight away." 

",I saw Ignorance come up to the river- 
side ; but he soon got over, and that with- 
out half the difficulty which the other 
two men met with." But what became 
of him afterward ? Yet, there are genuine 
triumphs. The city of God sends down 
its voices to animate the saint, for which 
the angels are waiting ; heaven meets 
them before they leave the earth. They 
talk of it, as though they were there. 
They are almost there. 



242 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

Whitfield replied to some, who said 
they should like to hear his sayings in 
death, " I shall not say any thing, for I 
have talked in life ; those who have not 
thus talked, are the ones whose mouths are 
open when they die." He did not say any 
thing ; but the reason was, he could not ; 
it was his disorder, not his heart, that 
tied his speech. Had he been able, he 
would have gathered his large congrega- 
tion before that central window, in School 
street, Newburyport, where he struggled 
hard for breath, and triumphantly spoke 
in death, what he so eloquently spake in 
life. Whitfield undoubtedly meant in the 
words which we read years since, and have 
quoted from memory, that he should try to 
do his great work for saving men, so that 
it should not remain to be done, when the 
soul may be occupied much, with the 
agonies of the body. God wakes many 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 243 

at the last, to do their previously undone 
work. And so to many who have done 
their work well, he gives the privilege 
that Stephen had when he " looked up 
steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory 
of God, and Jesus standing on the right 
hand of God." 

The life of Emily was truly devout. 
Prom the age of seven years she had 
walked with God. This early devotion 
had saved her from many of the sins, 
which often scatter gloom over even the 
latest periods of life. " She had done 
what she could," although conscious 
herself of much imperfection. Through 
a series of years, her life had been to 
others, the index of a close walk with 
God. Hence, we wonder not, at her 
reply, when her mother said to her, 
" You are so weary, that you almost long 
for the rest of heaven." " Yes, mother, 



244 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

I am afraid I am not willing to wait, 
and suffer long. For your sake and 
Lizzie's, I would live and suffer, but if I 
can't get well, I should like to go soon, 
I am so afraid I shall wear you out." 

Again she says, " < I shall be satisfied, 
when I awake with thy likeness.' This 
passage has been much in my mind, and 
that song 

' Jerusalem, my happy home/ " 

At another time, when she seemed 
much exhausted, the mother said, u I 
hope your heavenly Father will give 
you rest to-night." She quickly replied, 
" There remaineth a rest for' the people 
of God. I shall have it, if not in one 
way, it will be in another. How thank- 
ful I am I can talk with you of going 
home; perhaps, dear father will come 
to me, when I go." The mother says, 



THE BUD, BL0SS03I AND FRUIT. 245 

" The Saviour will be the chief attrac- 
tion." " Yes, oh, yes!" she replied, 

11 ' Rock of ages, cleft for me/ 

expresses my feelings." Alluding to her 
feebleness, she says : 

" September 28. — How glad I am I 
said all I wished before this. That 
verse ~of the lJ:9th Psalm is my feeling, 
1 and I sit a joyful subject at thy feet.' " 

Soon after this, she wished to be at rest. 
Some one asked, " Is it rest for the body, 
you wish ? " She replied, " My soul wants 
rest, it is shut up in prison, and longs 
to go." 

On the evening of September 29, she 
felt she might be almost home, and longed 
to go, and gave her friends that parting- 
kiss which tells the heart, after speech 
fails. 

On Wednesday morning, she says, " I 



246 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

am so disappointed not to have gone 
before." The mother says. " Your 
heavenly Father will take you. in the 
best time." - Perhaps." she 
"He sees I am not patient. Pray 
I may be more patient." During the 
closing scene, she would frequently say. 
"'near to God. near to God." Often. 
she ask, " Can you tell how long I - 
stay." The last words heard from her 
were, " I am going to Heaven." 

The earthly scene closed with I 
October 3. 1S57. It was late on Satur- 
day evening, within a few moments of 
the Sabbath. The dawn of the Sabbath, 
she had often hailed: with what raptures 
may we expect she welcomed the Sabbath, 
which was never to end. Piety that 
begins early, triumphs in death. 

The dying Emily is the emblem, chil- 
dren, of what you all may be. when the 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 247 

fashion of the world has passed away, 
and death is coming. Only begin early, 
and let life afterward be full of the 
Holy Ghost. Then you will say at the 
last, "Near to God, I am going to 
Heaven." 



248 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 



CHAPTER XXYII 

JFuneral. 



" These ashes too, this little dust. 
Our Father's care shall keep ; 
Till the last angel rise and break 
The long and dreary sleep. 

Then love's soft dew o'er every eye 

Shall shed its mildest rays, 
And the long silent dust shall burst 

With shouts of endless praise." — H. K. White. 



The last offices of love remain. Love can- 
not keep the spirit, when God calls it ; 
nor can it give the body that freshness, 
which makes its long stay in the old 
home desirable. The old patriarch cries, 
"Bury my dead out of my sight." It 
has been the cry of the world ever 
since. But love does what it can ; retains 
for days, the lifeless tabernacle ; covers 
it with pure garments ; strews it with 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 249 

sweet-scented evergreens and flowers ; 
calls around it kindred and acquaintance 
to take the " last fond look," and invites 
the prayer of faith, which leaves the 
body with God, till the resurrection morn- 
ing. It lays the valued dust on the 
spot which the spirit had chosen, before it 
took its flight : chisels in the stone the 
record of departed worth, survives, when 
the last handful of earth is mouldered, 
and prostrate upon the peaceful bosom of 
the grave, cries, " That I may be with them 
where they are, and behold thy glory." 

The funeral of Emily, was upon the 
seventh of October. It was a partial 
type of the old -rural funerals," of 
which, so few remain, The house was 
filled with those whom she had endeared 
by her unaffected kindness and worthy 
life. The leaves were falling ; the sun 
was hastening to its going down. It was 



250 THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

one of those beautiful autumnal days, 
in which the earth seems to be making 
ready to receive some precious trust, 
and keep it safely till the last storm has 
swept across its surface. The pastor 
who watched the young bud of grace, 
and beheld its bloom, and saw the fruit, 
was there, to follow it on in its course, 
still blossoming, and bearing fruit in the 
Paradise of God. The congregation of 
the living, were praying and sorrowing 
by the side of the dead. But we " sorrow 
not, even as others which have no hope." 
Oh ! the Christian's funeral ; it is good 
to be there. Would that we might 
always have the witness of a Christian 
life, when we stand by the side of death ! 
Would that we might not so often be 
called to say, " So I saw the wicked buried, 
who had come and gone from the place 
of the holy!" 



THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 251 

The prayer is soon over ; the bell is 
tolling, and to its melancholy sound, the 
village circle follow to the grave. The 
weary are at rest; they have left her at 
the tomb. But as they come away, the 
teacher and companions of Emily, from 
a distant place, are just riding up.; they 
had missed the road. It will be of but 
little care to Emily that they did not come 
earlier, to the sight of that form which 
could not have responded to their affection. 
But it is a great matter to her, that they 
be fitted to be with her, when their spirit, 
like hers, is passed.^ Let them not mis- 
take the road to life. 

The resting-place in Manchester, is 
but momentary. Emily had chosen her 
grave. It was the quiet place in Marl- 
boro', where she used to pray, and where 
her much-loved father sleeps. There 
she now lies beneath the willow, whose 



oco 



OZ THE BUD, BLOSSOM AND FRUIT. 

leaves have often borne up the whispers 
of her devotion, unto Heaven. Marlboro', 
may have living treasures, which we know 
not ; but its treasure in the grave, we 
know. Jesus guards it, till the trump of 
the archangel shall sound. The happy 
spirit that lives with him, may say over 
the once favored spot of its prayer, and 
the now pleasant place of repose for 
its dust, " All the days of my appointed 
time will I wait, till my change come." 
Early piety is no fiction. Emily began 
to love the Saviour at seven years old ; 
she loved him unto the end. Parents, 
Sabbath school teachers, ministers, remem- 
ber this, to animate your labors for the 
young. Children, remember it, that you 
may be encouraged early to devote heart 
and life to God. Keep in mind Emily's 
saying, " You cannot begin to serve God 
too early." 



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